The Fans Speak Out

Basketball Digest, Feb, 2001

Payton's place

Like so many stars of the '90s, the Seattle SuperSonics' Gary Payton would have his NBA title and be assured of making the Hall of Fame if it wasn't for Michael Jordan getting in the way. Payton gels better each year, and he might just be the best point guard of all time. Never count out "the Glove." Also, don't make the erroneous assumption that it was Payton's fault that former Seattle coach Paul Westphal was fired. Westphal got the pink slip because of his his relationship with Vin Baker and his record.

Loren Lee via e-mail

Loren, we agree that Payton is easily one of the best points, in the game. In fact, in this month's cover story you'll find our ranking of every teams playmaker. Payton comes in at No. 2, right behind the Phoenix Suns' Jason Kidd. As for all time, you'll see in our sidebar on page 30 that we don't think Payton ranks in the top 10, yet. But when it all said and done, Payton, no doubt, will be mentioned among the game greats.

Pro proponent

I really enjoy your magazine's emphasis on the pro game. Too much hype is directed toward the college game, which I feel is way too watered down today because so many kids are leaving early for the pros. When I recall watching John Wooden's UCLA teams with Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton, I think that those Bruins squads and some of the other great college teams of that era could beat some of today's pro teams.

I also especially enjoy your articles that evoke the greats of the past. I want to emphasize this viewpoint to the hotheaded youngster who wrote in your November "Fans" section that he prefers to remain ignorant of the great players that he was never able to see play in person.

Jeff Meyers North Huntingdon, Pa.

Feud for thought

I was surprised that in your sidebar on "The 10 Best NBA Rivalries of All Time" [December 2000], you didn't include the Chicago Bulls-New York Knicks rivalry of the early '90s. The two teams hated each other. Even the coaches, Phil Jackson and Pat Riley, weren't crazy about each other. One might say the rivalry was one-sided because Chicago won almost every time, and the games sure weren't pretty offensively. But you could criticize the Lakers-Celtics rivalry of the '60s and the Knicks-Heat of current vintage for the same reasons.

John Broussard Houston

John, you make a good argument for the Chicago-New York rivalry. In fact, in 1992 the Knicks were the only team to push the Bulls to seven games in a playoff series during Chicago's six championip seasons.

Quiz quandary

In your November "Quick Quiz" you state that Oscar Robertson is the NBA's all-time leader in triple-double with 178. I thought that the triple-double was a relatively new statistic, so how could a player who retired in 1973 be the leader? Also has anyone ever recorded a quadruple- or quintuple-double?

Jill Manning Lincoln, Neb.

Jill, while the phrase "triple-double" is relatively new, it's possible to go back and look at a player's statistics from any given game and determine if they had a triple-double. As for quadruple- or quintuple-doubles, there have been ironically four quadruple-doubles, but no NBA player has ever recorded a quintuple-double. Above is a list of the NBA's four quadruple-doubles.

Esch? Eccch!

I never thought that I'd see the words "Northwestern" and "great" together in the stone sentence, but there they were ["Fans," January]. Now I appredate bragging as much as the next guy, but if anyone thinks Evan Eschmeyer starting the year as the New Jersey Nets first-string center is some proof of greatness, then I've got some old "ALAN KEYES FOR PRESIDENT" buttons I'd like to sell him.

Michael Buck Newark

Shooting the messenger

In your December issue, in describing the New York Knicks' trade for Glen Rice, Alex Gordon falls into a common trap ["Opening Tip"]. He says that considering there is only one ball, the Knicks, with Rice, Allan Houston, and Latrell SpreweU, have too many shooters. If you check, the Knicks are still close to the bottom in the league in team scoring. Obviously it doesn't matter how many balls the Knicks use, they don't have enough shooters.

Sam Palermo Rochester, N.Y.

Sam, in the Knicks' case it might be an issue of quality vs. quantity.

Corrections: In our sidebar on "The 10 Best NBA Rivalries of All Time," we mistakenly stated that the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, or both appeared in the NBA Finals each year between 1980 and 1991. In 1990, the Detroit Pistons defeated the Portland Trail Blazers to win the title. Also in the same piece, we said that the Philadelphia 76ers eliminated Boston in the Eastern Conference finals in 1981. In fact, Boston beat Philly in that series and then went on to win the NBA title.

NBA Quadruple-Doubles

Player            Game (Date)

Nate Thurmond     Chicago vs. Atlanta (10/18/74)
Alvin Robertson   San Antonio vs. Phoenix (2/18/86)
Hakeem Olajuwon   Houston vs. Milwaukee (3/29/90)
David Robinson    San Antonio vs. Detroit (2/17/94)

Player            Stats

Nate Thurmond     22 pts., 14 rebs., 13 asst., 12 blks.
Alvin Robertson   20 pts., 11 rebs., 10 asst., 10 stls.
Hakeem Olajuwon   18 pts., 16 rebs., 10 asst., 11 blks.
David Robinson    34 pts., 10 rebs., 10 asst., 10 blks.