So tomorrow, Friday, September 5, 2008, Mr. Davidson will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. He will be introduced by Joe Dumars, as the Hall has a rule that only a current Hall of Famer can induct someone from the current class.
What? Isiah and Larry Brown were both busy?
The crazy thing isn't that Mr. Davidson is going into the Hall of Fame -- he certainly deserves it for the 30+ years (not to mention the $$$) he has dedicated to the NBA -- but instead the members of the class that Mr. D is going in with.
No, I don't mean Patrick Ewing, Pat Riley or Hakeem Olajuwon. I don't even mean Cathy Rush (uhhhhh, who??). I'm talking about the other two gentlemen.
Adrian Dantley, the former Pistons player who was rumored to be traded because he and Isiah didn't get along and Isiah wanted him out to make room to move his buddy Mark Aguirre in (c'mon...don't get all sensitive on me now...you know that's the rumor and it was pretty evident), is being inducted in the class with Mr. D.
I have no idea how AD feels about Mr. D, but I do know that Joe Dumars and AD were best friends when "The Teacher" was here in Detroit and Joe credits AD for teaching him how to be a professional. It will be interesting to see the interaction at the ceremony....very interesting.
I remember AD, as I was here when we traded for him (bye, bye Kelly Tripucka). I remember when he played for Utah and what a stud he was. The guy was amazing for sure -- making the high socks and short shorts look good were enough to warrant the Hall. But he was an old school player in what was becoming a new school league. What I mean by that, was AD was a post-up, slow it down kind of player. He needed the clear out to be effective and he needed to use his strength on the block to get to the basket. Not a bad talent to have, but he didn't fit into what was the Bad Boys vs. Showtime era of the NBA.
But the more interesting is the induction of Dick Vitale, or Dicky V as most have come to know him. ESPN and college basketball made him famous, but very few know he coached the University of Detroit Titans and made them a national powerhouse with Terry Tyler, John Long and Terry Duerod during the mid-1970s. Even fewer know that Vitale coached the Detroit Pistons for the entire 1978-79 season and 12 games of the 1979-80 season. Most who do remember those "re-Vitaleized" Pistons want to forget. Dicky V proved coaching in the pros was a bit different and compiled a lackluster 34-60 (.362) record at the Pontiac Silverdome.
I'm liking this induction because Vitale has always said that the best thing that Mr. Davidson did for him was to fire him in 1980. I can't wait to hear Vitale re-tell the story of the day he got fired and how Mr. D handled it. I want to see Mr. D's reaction and response...the line is 7-2 that Mr. D cracks a huge smile and only 3-1 that he laughs out loud. The odds are much lower (2-1) that Vitale uses the word "ziggy" when he tells of his being ousted by the Pistons.
And what's the over under on Vitale's use of the word, "Baby!"?
I did only limited research and I couldn't find who is inducting these other gentlemaen, but I'd like to make some educated guesses...
Vitale -- inducted by Mike Krzyzewski (but imagine if it was Billy Packer or Bobby Knight?)
Dantley -- inducted by John Stockton (but imagine if it was Isiah or Joe?)
Riley -- inducted by Magic Johnson (but imagine if it was KC Jones or Chuck Daly?)
Olajuwon -- inducted by Moses Malone (but imagine if it was someone who could actually talk?)
Ewing -- inducted by Willis Reed (but imagine if it was MJ or Spike Lee?)
Cathy Rush -- again, uhhhhhh, who?
Induction ceremonies are this Friday, simulcast on NBA TV and ESPN Classic at 7:30 p.m. from Springfield, Mass.
http://www.nba.com/
http://hoophall.com/
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