Fri, August 16th, 2019

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Written while listening to Rick James' Bustin' Out

Things that were better in the 1970s: NBA refs 

It is extremely the offseason, and nothing illustrates that better than Wednesday’s letter, in which we documented our attempted contact with Adam Silver.Today, we’re headed further down the desire path of summer content.On a Grip-related rabbit hole the other day, we watched all of Game 7 of the 1976 Western Conference Finals, between Golden State and Phoenix.Storylines abounded: Rick Barry’s toupee; Ricky Sobers’ right hook that ruffled Rick Barry’s toupee; and so on, but those are stories for another day.One thing that stood out above the rest? How awesome, animated, confident and bell-bottomed the refs of the mid-1970s were, as seen in the GIF above.It seems like, back then, the refs had much more liberty to make themselves a part of the show and, boy, did they seize that chance.Behold the most extra travel call that we have ever seen:When a ref does something theatrical nowadays, it makes the rounds on every sports blog imaginable.Back then, a three-part choreography which covered 10 feet and two emphatic downward left-handed air stabs sandwiched between an arm bar followed by an incriminating point, was just called an and-one:Oh, and you know how picky NBA players are in the modern game about bounce backs between free throws?Try dealing with a mean softball pitch coming right at your face!(Pretty sure the first lesson at referee training camp back in the day was on how to perfect this stylish over-under motion):Those were just a handful of our favorite moments.We took the liberty of slicing every little groove into a three-minute video, which you can watch and help support us by clicking here.(There’s also a quick clip at 2:28 of future NBA player Jon Barry mopping up the floor as a little sports kid.)

QUIZ:

Who is the only player to lead the ABA, the NCAA, and the NBA in scoring? Answer at the bottom.

Was The Finals Boogie’s last dance? 

DeMarcus Cousins tore his left ACL on Thursday, while playing basketball in Las Vegas. It’s the third major leg injury in less than two years for Boogie, the torn Achilles and torn quad being the other two.The bronze lining, if there is any good in this, is that the tear comes after Cousins signed his one-year, $3.5 million contract with the Lakers, so he’ll get that money no matter what.The unfortunate thing is that, at 29 and now deep in the black hole of serious leg injuries, the heavy-set big man will likely never get that big pay day that so many of his contemporary All-Stars have cashed in on.(Gold lining: He’s already made more than $80 million.)And, assuming he misses all of the upcoming season, he’ll be 30 by the start of next season with only eight playoff games played.[READ: DeMarcus Cousins is becoming the NBA’s latest “What if?”]

 Quick Hits 

• Interesting nugget: Gregg Popovich was a late cut from the 1972 Olympic team, which got screwed by the refs in a buzzer-beating loss to the Soviets. Here he is talking about being cut, and about the final game. 

• Magic Johnson, who turned 60 on Wednesday, tweeted a bunch of random top-60 lists, including his top-60 female R & B singers, which was basically just an alphabetized list of 60 female R & B singers. 

• Steve Kerr on Boogie: “I’m devastated for DeMarcus. It’s been a couple of years of hell. I was really hoping this season would be a chance to get healthy. We’re all crushed for him.”

• Team USA lost by 19 points to a bunch of bench players and G-Leaguers. Not exactly the fabled Dream Team scrimmage!

• The Clippers signed Pat Patterson to a one-year deal on Thursday.

• Brian Windhorst remembers some great Mikhail Prokhorov moments. 

 Concrete Reads 

• ‘He was Reggie Miller with a handle’: Thirty years ago, the NBA lost Ricky Berry [The Undefeated]

• Ja Morant can help Jaren Jackson Jr. reach new heights [The Ringer]

• In rethinking the Wizards, Ted Leonsis blocked the noise and called Barack Obama (and 77 others) [The WaPo]

 Podcast Pick

Team USA’s breakout stars and LeBron 2020 predictions with Brian Windhorst [The Bill Simmons Podcast]