Walsh never counted on getting Johnson in 1987. His research told him Johnson would be gone long before the 11th pick. Walsh started plotting. He went to then-Pacers coach Jack Ramsay. “And I had a tape of Reggie and I said, ‘Jack, I want you to look at this because I don’t know if we’re going to get the kid we were looking for,’” Walsh said. “He watched it that night and he came back in and said, ‘Yeah, I’d take him.’ And I said, ‘So would I,’ and so that’s what we did.”
Tag: Jack Ramsay
Down by 2, Hawks player/coach Alex …
Down by 2, Hawks player/coach Alex Hannum threw the ball off the backboard from the other end of the floor only to see Bob Pettit’s put-back attempt roll off the rim. Wouldn’t you like to have seen it? Sadly, no complete video account exists. Thus began the greatest sustained run of dominance in NBA history. With Russell as the anchor, the Celtics survived the retirements of Sharman (1961), Cousy and Ramsey (1963), Heinsohn (1965), and K.C. Jones (1967), not to mention the exit of Auerbach as coach in 1966, to keep on keeping on, culminating in the most unlikely of all Celtics triumphs, the conquest of the mighty Wilt Chamberlain/Elgin Baylor/Jerry West Lakers in the famous 1969 Game 7 “Balloon Game.”
Gregg Popovich, Steve Kerr among 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History
NBA PR: The NBA today unveiled the 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History as part of the continuing celebration of the league’s 75th Anniversary Season. The list was selected by a panel of 43 current & former NBA head coaches in collaboration with the National Basketball Coaches Association.
Scott Agness: Interesting note from …
Scott Agness: Interesting note from Donnie Walsh’s statement on the passing of Jerry Sloan: “He was the first coach I interviewed for our head coaching position with the Pacers but he told me me he had already accepted the position as the head coach for the Jazz” So Walsh hired Jack Ramsay.