by Steve Travers
"He's the greatest shooter of all time, period. Forget that bit about the 'greatest shooting big man.' " Bill Russell 1975
This statement might just hold true today. We are in an era in which NBA big men are increasingly developing a perimeter game but back in the day a big man spent the majority of the time underneath the basket. This was not the case with Bob McAdoo, who could light it up from practically anywhere on the court. Although a Celtics fan, as a child I had a fascination with the Buffalo Braves and would try to follow them as much as I could, which was much harder back then. I learned to read with Basketball Digest, read my local newspaper and tuned into the game of the week with the hopes of seeing either the C’s or the Braves. By the way, the Braves are now the Los Angeles Clippers.
"He's the greatest shooter of all time, period. Forget that bit about the 'greatest shooting big man.' " Bill Russell 1975
This statement might just hold true today. We are in an era in which NBA big men are increasingly developing a perimeter game but back in the day a big man spent the majority of the time underneath the basket. This was not the case with Bob McAdoo, who could light it up from practically anywhere on the court. Although a Celtics fan, as a child I had a fascination with the Buffalo Braves and would try to follow them as much as I could, which was much harder back then. I learned to read with Basketball Digest, read my local newspaper and tuned into the game of the week with the hopes of seeing either the C’s or the Braves. By the way, the Braves are now the Los Angeles Clippers.
After playing two seasons in Junior College, he went home to play for North Carolina for a season before fighting for and winning early eligibility into the NBA draft in 1972. He was drafted number two by the Buffalo Braves who were entering their third season in the league, and like most expansion teams were struggling mightily at the time. Almost immediately McAdoo made an impression and showed that he could play the game. With a small frame and being 6’9” at best, his then coach Dr. Jack Ramsey didn’t think he had the body to be a big man, so played him at the 3 coming off the bench to begin the season. Although he could score, he was a defensive liability, which was something that dogged him most his career. After realizing playing him as a small forward was not working, Ramsey inserted him into the starting five as a center midway through the season and that is when his game took off. After averaging 18ppg and over 9 boards he became rookie of the year, but the Braves were still not a good team at that point.
What really fueled my fascination with the Buffalo Braves was in the 73-74 season when they drafted my childhood hero from Providence College, Ernie DiGregorio, a point guard with unbelievable talent and one of the craftier passers I have ever seen. Things started coming together as Ernie D was named rookie of the year and McAdoo averaged 30.6 ppg and 15.1 rpg in his second season. Let those numbers sink in for a moment. 30 and 15. They had finally gotten over the hump and made it to the conference semifinals, losing to Boston. In his third year he even got better and was named the league mvp averaging 34.5 ppg and amongst the leaders in most statistical categories, leading his team to one of the leagues best records although coming up short in the playoffs again. Simply put, he was a beast with a deadly outside shot that couldn’t be stopped, taking over half of his shots from the perimeter and having over a .500 shooting percentage in his first 4 seasons, winning scoring titles along the way.
Things started going badly for McAdoo in the following years due to his defensive liabilities and his unwillingness to accept them. DiGregorio was plagued buy injuries during his career leaving McAdoo’s running mate out of the lineup. He was not very liked by the media and did not endear himself to the fans the way a talent like his probably should have. After having some issues with the Braves and not accepting a contract extension because he believed he should be paid more, was shipped to the Knicks in 1976. He was not happy there and was involved in much team fighting and his legend was falling. Although his numbers were not as good as in his first four years in the league, he still produced and should have been an asset to any team. By this point the had still not won a championship, was not extremely liked and was pretty unhappy. From there he was becoming an NBA journeyman playing for Boston, Detroit, and the Nets, not really making any friends along the way. His stint in Boston could be a story in itself, but that’s for another day. One of his biggest issues is wherever he went he was leaned on to be the man without much help around him asked to do too much in his opinion.
There was one more stop in his career during the 1981 season where he was traded by the Nets to the Lakers. It really was the first time he had been on a very good team and not having to be the go to guy. He actually embraced the role of coming off the bench playing less minutes than what he was used to, but was still a major contributor with the Lakers going to the finals in his four years there. McAdoo was very happy in LA and was finally an NBA champion. Unfortunately the Lakers were heading in a new direction, focused on youth, so they decided not to pick up his option for his final year there. He had played one half season for the Sixers after spending the first half in contract negotiations and the following season did not accept their contract offer with no other teams calling.
Instead of retiring, he went to play overseas for 7 seasons at 35 years old in Italy. He tore up the leagues still playing high quality ball averaging over 26 points and almost 9 boards, finally retiring at 41 years old. He has spent the last 18 years as an assistant for the Miami Heat, coaching and mentoring their big men in addition to helping all the Heat players on shooting skills. He also has been very active in the Basketball without Borders program and was the technical basketball advisor on the Kevin Bacon film, The Air Up There.
Bob McAdoo was one of the greatest basketball players I have ever seen, going to the Hall of Fame and could have been known as one of the best ever. Even today he is regarded by many as the best shooting big man of all time. I feel privileged to have seen him play.
What really fueled my fascination with the Buffalo Braves was in the 73-74 season when they drafted my childhood hero from Providence College, Ernie DiGregorio, a point guard with unbelievable talent and one of the craftier passers I have ever seen. Things started coming together as Ernie D was named rookie of the year and McAdoo averaged 30.6 ppg and 15.1 rpg in his second season. Let those numbers sink in for a moment. 30 and 15. They had finally gotten over the hump and made it to the conference semifinals, losing to Boston. In his third year he even got better and was named the league mvp averaging 34.5 ppg and amongst the leaders in most statistical categories, leading his team to one of the leagues best records although coming up short in the playoffs again. Simply put, he was a beast with a deadly outside shot that couldn’t be stopped, taking over half of his shots from the perimeter and having over a .500 shooting percentage in his first 4 seasons, winning scoring titles along the way.
Things started going badly for McAdoo in the following years due to his defensive liabilities and his unwillingness to accept them. DiGregorio was plagued buy injuries during his career leaving McAdoo’s running mate out of the lineup. He was not very liked by the media and did not endear himself to the fans the way a talent like his probably should have. After having some issues with the Braves and not accepting a contract extension because he believed he should be paid more, was shipped to the Knicks in 1976. He was not happy there and was involved in much team fighting and his legend was falling. Although his numbers were not as good as in his first four years in the league, he still produced and should have been an asset to any team. By this point the had still not won a championship, was not extremely liked and was pretty unhappy. From there he was becoming an NBA journeyman playing for Boston, Detroit, and the Nets, not really making any friends along the way. His stint in Boston could be a story in itself, but that’s for another day. One of his biggest issues is wherever he went he was leaned on to be the man without much help around him asked to do too much in his opinion.
There was one more stop in his career during the 1981 season where he was traded by the Nets to the Lakers. It really was the first time he had been on a very good team and not having to be the go to guy. He actually embraced the role of coming off the bench playing less minutes than what he was used to, but was still a major contributor with the Lakers going to the finals in his four years there. McAdoo was very happy in LA and was finally an NBA champion. Unfortunately the Lakers were heading in a new direction, focused on youth, so they decided not to pick up his option for his final year there. He had played one half season for the Sixers after spending the first half in contract negotiations and the following season did not accept their contract offer with no other teams calling.
Instead of retiring, he went to play overseas for 7 seasons at 35 years old in Italy. He tore up the leagues still playing high quality ball averaging over 26 points and almost 9 boards, finally retiring at 41 years old. He has spent the last 18 years as an assistant for the Miami Heat, coaching and mentoring their big men in addition to helping all the Heat players on shooting skills. He also has been very active in the Basketball without Borders program and was the technical basketball advisor on the Kevin Bacon film, The Air Up There.
Bob McAdoo was one of the greatest basketball players I have ever seen, going to the Hall of Fame and could have been known as one of the best ever. Even today he is regarded by many as the best shooting big man of all time. I feel privileged to have seen him play.