Springfield, Mass. – Spike Lee got a photo with Larry Bird and got a technical foul from the Hall of Fame referee.
Not a bad first trip to the birthplace of basketball to collect an honor he didn’t know existed.
The filmmaker was added to the Superfan Gallery of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He went to Baseball’s Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York and borrowed a few basketball items, but didn’t get there until he was told he was to be honored for his passion for the New York Knicks. Used to be.
“Here’s the thing, though. I didn’t even know this thing existed,” Lee said. “So when I got the call it was a complete shock.”
Lee joins Jack Nicholson, Philadelphia businessman Alan Horwitz and Billy Crystal as additional members this year. During a ceremony hours before the class of 2024 was enshrined, Clippers fan Crystal told Lee he was already in the Hall of Fame.
“I’m in Cooperstown too, you know. They put my movie in the film collection, ’61,'” Crystal said, referring to the film he directed in 1961 about the home run chase between the Yankees’ Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle.
Wearing Knicks-colored orange throughout the weekend and telling anyone who would listen that this was their year, Lee said he enjoyed interacting with those in attendance from his front row seat at Madison Square Garden. Anand came, with whom he has been talking for so long.
Lee said, “I got a chance to take a picture with Larry Bird, standing between Larry and Artis Gilmore.” “I got into a fake debate with Dick Bavetta. He called me ‘T’ and took out a whistle from his pocket and blew it. Dick Bavetta and I go way back. She’s also from Brooklyn, so we got that love, but it was great to see all these people. I see him in action sitting in front of the court.
Vince Carter was in a room full of Hall of Famers when he noticed a man dressed in a familiar shade of Tar Heel blue.
“Congratulations, dog!” Michael Jordan stood up to shake hands Saturday night and asked Carter how he was doing as they hugged.
Carter then introduced his family to Jordan, who had been inducted into the Hall of Fame 15 years earlier.
Carter drew comparisons to Jordan early in his career. He also played at North Carolina, won the Slam Dunk Contest and soon became a nightly producer of NBA highlights and a perennial All-Star. It was during one of those All-Star Games in 2003 that Carter gave Jordan his Eastern Conference starting spot so the six-time champion could start in his final All-Star Game.
Jordan also warmly embraced Doug Collins, who coached him in both Chicago and Washington.
“I know he’s lied to you a lot!” Jordan told the group around him as he patted Collins’ stomach.
Indeed, the story Collins told about Jordan during his induction speech seems worth checking out.
This was his first game coaching the Bulls. Collins said he was nervously chewing gum when his team was playing the New York Knicks and when he called a late timeout, it was stuck around his lips.
“I was drenched in sweat and I had a headache and I started looking up and I saw this black hand moving like this,” Collins said, imitating Jordan. “He said, ‘Coach, drink that water, rinse it out of your mouth. I’m not going to let you lose your first game.'”
Collins said the Bulls won and Jordan scored 50 points. And indeed, Chicago defeated New York 108–103 on November 1, 1986, finishing 50 points behind Jordan.
Collins’ nearly half-hour speech included about 25 minutes when he mentioned the importance of storytelling when broadcasting games. That’s the advice Dick Ebersole gave him when he joined NBC.
Collins certainly told a lot of stories.
He had a lot to cover while being included as a contributor, his four All-Star appearances as a player with the 76ers, his playing in the U.S. loss in the controversial 1972 Olympic gold-medal game Memories, his two coaching stints and his time on television.
But he was gone too late for the event organisers. A clock inside the symphony hall read: NOW 0:00 WR!!!
“I felt like Jim Valvano, the former North Carolina State coach who refused to die from cancer during his famous ESPY speech,” Collins said.
“Do I care about that red light? Are you kidding?” Collins said.
When he finally finished, behind him was former Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan, who immediately made it clear it would not be Collins.
“I’m not a storyteller,” he began. “I have former players out there working out how many minutes I will get.”
Michelle Timms played in the inaugural season of the WNBA, being one of the original players selected by the Phoenix Mercury. This was 1997, so of course the game looks different now.
But he’s surprised by how different it is.
“Wow,” said the Australian. “Proud.”
Attendance was up nearly 44% over the previous season, with 37 WNBA games in the regular season drawing crowds of at least 16,000. Six different league television partners set viewership records for the most-watched WNBA game this year.
Much of this was due to the popularity of Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark. Timms, who cheers for her Mercury and supports the New York Liberty, coached by friend Sandy Brondello, is a fan.
“I mean, you can’t talk about the WNBA unless you talk about Kaitlin Clark, and she’s absolutely amazing,” Timms said. “I mean, I’m a Phoenix girl and I love Phoenix and I love New York — OK, not love them, I love New York — but I’ve watched every single Indiana game this season and it’s women. It’s an exciting time for basketball and it’s grown and evolved since my time there.”
The Liberty and Minnesota Lynx are tied 1-1 in the WNBA Finals. Simon Augustus helped the Lynx win four championships while playing from 2006–06. She’s watched the growth since then, with future teams coming to Golden State, Portland and Toronto, and said she couldn’t ask for anything more given what the league has become.
“To be honest, they checked off a lot of things I wish I had when I was playing. Obviously charter flights, salary increases, taking care of the moms in our league,” Augustus said.
“So I mean, just continuing to move in the direction and put these young women in places we haven’t been and we’re able to use their voices in ways that we’ve never been able to.”
NBA: /hub/nba
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications to the text.
