Bob Pettit played 11 seasons in the NBA and had a career average of 26 ppg. and 16 rpg. The Thin Louisiana Man never had a season where he averaged under 20ppg. Shaquielle O'Neal never had an average of 16 rebounds in a season! - (Screen shot photo)

Former LA Laker Jerry West passed away at 86 JERRY WEST REMEMBERED

Dallas Mavericks GM Nico Harrison says he is content trading away star Luka Doncic - (Screen shot photo) DONCIC TRADED… WHY? NO SENSE = NONSENSE

Dallas Mavericks owner Israeli Miriam Adelson plays the American political game well. Here she receives an honor bestowed upon her by US President Donald Trump who she donated $200 to milllion to his recent presidential campaign fund. WHO IS MIRIAM ADELSON?

Bill Walton played through pain and injuries. He was rewarded late in his career being a member of the 1986 NBA championship Boston Celtics team. It was his second NBA title - (Steve Lipofsky photo) BILL WALTON REMEMBERED

For those in the know the former LA/Minneapolis Lakers great Elgin Baylor is the best pound for pound NBA player ever. Better Than Jordan? ELGIN BAYLOR!!!

Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics

SPORTS NOTES - BOB PETTIT - THE IRON MAN

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

After 11 seasons in the NBA, when Bob Pettit retired his salary was only $11 thousand per season, THE SAME SALARY HE WAS PAID AS A ROOKIE! Pettit went on to have a career in the banking business. It was a job that he was offered two years earlier. Pettit turned it down to play in the NBA for the LOVE OF THE GAME. - THIS DAY IN THE NBA - NBA's ALL TIME BEST PLAYERS 1st and 2nd TEAMS

Monday May 5, 2025

MONEY'S WORTH - FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME

Go figure what the value of today's NBA player is worth when they receive massive contracts and all of a sudden are on the injured list with an injury that old school players would play on.

One example is Brandon Ingram who was traded from the New Orleans Pelicans to the Toronto Raptors. After the trade he was given a massive $36 million per season contract and never played a game for the Raptors since… DUE TO A SPRAINED ANKLE.

Basically, it's like taking the season off and collecting the money aka a paid vacation. Most notably the 27-year-old Ingram didn't play since December 2024.

After the Lakers traded Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks, he played one game and then went on the injured list. He returned at the end of the season and played eight games. His salary is $42 million a season. He played 51 of 82 games this season in including 42 with the Lakers.

Recently we viewed an interview on You Tube with NBA Hall of Fame player Bob Pettit. He recalled when he came out of a game in the second quarter and had to get 17 stitches over his eye. When he asked the trainer what if it happens again in the second half, the trainer replied, "Then I'll stitch you up again."

Pettit is my kind of OLD SCHOOL player and from an era when I was growing up watching the NBA on snowy black and white TV pictures. I saw Pettit play in his rookie season with the then Milwaukee Hawks. I didn't know who he was but I recognized that he was really good and hustled.

Considering the value then to the value now then many NBA players had to work in the offseason to pay their bills. Today a WISE player that is prudent with their earnings can live comfortably for the rest of their lives.

Today a star player makes over $30 million a season. A super star earns over $40 million a season. We're now entering a phase where some players will eclipse $50 million a season to take to the bank.

Recently we viewed a video on You Tube that examines players that squandered their earnings on women, gambling and drugs. In addition some players splurged on extravagances such as renting private planes and purchasing MANY expensive cars to look at since they can only drive one.

Today's players sit out games because something is sore or they don't feel well. On a video on Pettit on You Tube he relates when he was cut over the eye in the second quarter that required 17 stitches. Pettit asked the team doctor what if it happens again in the second half? The doctor replied, "then I'll stitch you up again.

Pettit played 11 seasons in the league and had a career average of 26 ppg. and 16 rpg. The Thin Louisiana Man never had a season where he averaged under 20ppg. Shaquielle O'Neal never had an average of 16 rebounds in a season!

Now here's the kicker… Pettit retired IN 1965 because he didn't make enough money in the NBA to survive. When he retired his salary was only $11 thousand per season, THE SAME SALARY HE WAS PAID AS A ROOKIE!

Pettit went on to have a career in the banking business. It was a job that he was offered two years earlier. Pettit turned it down to play in the NBA for the LOVE OF THE GAME.

Pettit asked what do today's players play for? They've already got the money!

NBA GAME CHANGE SUGGESTIONS:

Make a rule where a team can only take 30 three-point shots a game. This will create more strategy. A shot clock can be doubled in two sections where one side is about 3-point shots taken and the other being the 24 second clock.

COMING: THE NBA ALL STAR GAME ABORTION

THIS DAY IN THE NBA

May 5, 1969 Hall of Famers Bill Russell and Sam Jones, two of Boston's all-time greats, ended their Celtic careers with a 108-106 Game 7 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, giving Boston its 11th NBA championship in 13 years.

May 5, 1981 Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics, anticipating that his jumper from the right of the key during Game 1 of the 1981 NBA Finals against Houston was going to be off target, raced to the right baseline, grabbed the rebound with his right hand, switched the ball into his left hand as his momentum was taking him out of bounds and somehow laid it in the basket. Red Auerbach called it the greatest play he had ever seen, both for Bird's physical ability to make the shot and his basketball instinct to get into position for the rebound. The Celtics won the game 98-95, and went on to take the series in six games.

May 5, 1986 NBA legends Rick Barry, Walt Frazier and Pete Maravich were among five men inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

May 5, 1995 Clyde Drexler scored a game-high 41 points and Hakeem Olajuwon added 40 to lead Houston to a 123-106 win over visiting Utah in Game 4 of their Western Conference First Round series. It marked the third time in NBA Playoff history that a pair of teammates had scored 40 or more points in the same game.

May 5, 1998 Atlanta's Dikembe Mutombo is named the winner of the 1997-98 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, becoming the first player in NBA history to win the award three times.

May 5, 2000 Portland Trail Blazers assistant coach Bill Musselman died in the morning from complications from amyloidosis, a disease affecting the liver. He was at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. A moment of silence was observed at the Rose Garden on Sunday, May 7 before the Trail Blazers' 94-75 victory over Utah in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series. The 59-year-old Musselman, a former NBA head coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves, was in his third season with the Blazers.