A shooting star twinkles on D - Uncovering the Past - basketball player Paul Westphal - Brief Article

Basketball Digest, March, 2002

PAUL WESTPHAL'S CAREER 68.8% shooting makes him one of the most accurate scorers in the history of the NBA All-Star Game. But on a cold day in Milwaukee some 25 seasons ago, a mere year and a half into his superstardom with the Phoenix Suns, Westphal was a defensive hero as well.

The sharpshooter kept the West in the game down the stretch, nailing a couple jumpers to keep the score close. But in the waning seconds, as the trailing East team set up its final shot. Westphal stole the ball from Pete Maravich of the New Orleans Jazz lo ensure a 125-124 win. [For more on the 25th Anniversary of the 1977 All-Star Game, see our "Flashback" on page 18].

Westphal, denied the All-Star MVP by voters sentimental to Julius Erving's dominating performance in his first NBA All-Star appearance, got some comeuppance at season's end, being named to his first of three All-NBA first teams.

Almost three seasons after his All-Star heroics, Westphal graced our January 1980 cover illustrating the lead feature "Rating the Guards: Is Paul Westphal of Phoenix No. 1?" (Yes, and no; he made a group of "the best" including George Gervin, Dennis Johnson, and David Thompson). The 6'4", 195-pound 2-guard was cited as "tough in the clutch," "deadly from the outside," and "murder driving to the hoop." And if the otherwise mild-mannered Westphal wasn't built up enough into a bully by writer Richard Levin's analysis, the guard was also praised off the ball for having "an uncanny knack of using his hands when the officials are looking the other way."

With all his scandalous hoops habits in mind, it's no surprise Westphal stole the 1977 All-Star Game.