Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Countdown to the NBA Season with my personal experiences of playing against the NBA's All-Time 50 Greatest Players - Charles Barkley

THE 50 GREATEST PLAYERS IN NBA HISTORY

One of the most frequently asked questions that I encounter besides “how tall are you?” is either “who is the greatest player you’ve ever played against?” or “who is the toughest player you’ve ever played against?”  Depending on who's asking the question and their knowledge of basketball, I typically give a couple of different responses.  There's a big difference between “the greatest” and “the toughest.”

The game of basketball has been around for a long time now and it has evolved over the years from when Dr. James Naismith first tied a peach basket to an old barn post and the players were shooting two-hand set shots, to today where the game is played on a global scale with some of the finest athletes in the world.  There were great players back in the beginning of the game, just as there are great players now.  I don't know if it's ever totally fair to compare players from one era with players of another.  Periodically you see sports aficionados coming up with hypothetical computerized scenarios of, say, the great Green Bay Packers of the Sixties versus the New England Patriots of the new millennium.  It's impossible to really say who the best players are or which team would come out on top.  But it's a fun exercise and it creates a lot of heated conversation among the fanatics and all of us.

I was lucky to play during perhaps the greatest era of NBA basketball.  My NBA career spanned two decades essentially, 1980 – 1996.  Some of the greatest NBA players ever to play the game played during those years.  I remember as a rookie in 1980 marveling at the incredible Dr. J. and I’ve also been able to witness the new era of NBA basketball that was brought to us by Ervin “Magic” Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan.

All in all, I was privileged to play against over thirty of the all-time fifty greatest NBA players.  I'm going to go through the whole list and share my thoughts with you in regards to either actually playing against them or watching them while I was still a youngster.  They are listed in alphabetical order, and if you want to find the actual numerical order in which they are listed by the NBA, you can check out their website at NBA.com

 

Charles Barkley

Charles_barkley

Charles Barkley was a riot to play against.  He's one of the guys who always had fun out there, yet because of his tremendous talent he could dominate a game at both ends of the floor.  Given the fact that he was only about 6’4” and weighed in at an impressive 250 pounds, he gave all of us big guys fits because of his quick leaping ability and great instincts for the ball.  Because of his seemingly arrogant personality, Charles didn't get the respect due to him consistently throughout his career.  But he definitely goes down as one of the all-time greats!

Charles is one of only two guys I can ever remember actually dunking on me, in which I challenged the shot with everything I had, yet I still got dunked on.  Actually, I don't feel too bad, because he dunked on the whole team!

This is how it played out.  Charles was playing for the Philadelphia 76ers and I was playing with the San Diego Clippers.  Charles was running the ball down the court at full speed and he essentially took off from the foul line.  He flew right by our point guard, Norm Nixon, and then he went by our shooting guard, Derek Smith.  He kept right on coming past our small forward, Greg Kelser, and then past our power forward, Terry Cummings.  He wasn't just going by them   – he was going up and over them.  I saw all this play out as if in slow motion and by the time I reacted to what was going on, Charles was already halfway down the lane and past three of our guys.  I jumped with all I could to challenge his shot as the last line of defense before the basket, but Charles just kept rising up and over me too and threw the ball down to the basket with such terrific force that it just brought the house down.  If it wasn't such a “fantastic moment,” it probably would've been one of the most embarrassing moments for me on the basketball court.

When you play against the best as in a great player like Charles, you can't help but admire some of the things they can do on the basketball court.  Besides, it’s what the fans come to see!

Standing_above_the_crowd

The Perfect Christmas Gift!!!

Order you own personally autographed copy of Standing Above the Crowd www.StandingAboveTheCrowd.com in time for the holidays.  Only $19.95 and autographed by yours truly, James Donaldson; author, business entrepreneur, professional speaker and former NBA All-Star. 

What better way to start the New Year out than with an inspiring, uplifting, motivating book on life, personal goals and being the best you can be… no matter what your circumstances.

It’ll make a great gift for those around you who might benefit from a little “Get – Up – And – Go” boost in their lives.

Standing Above the Crowd is also available in ebook format on www.amazon.com 

Happy Holidays!

James Donaldson

 

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Countdown to the NBA Season with my personal experiences of playing against the NBA's All-Time 50 Greatest Players - Nate Archibald

Nate_tiny_archibald

Nate Archibald

I played against Nate “Tiny” Archibald at the tail end of his career. In that he was a point guard and I was a big center, we rarely matched up on the court.  Nate was one of the great players in NBA history simply because of his uncanny ability to handle the ball, score, and dish out assists – always out there for his team.

Nate was always one of my favorite players to watch simply because he was so smooth and had such a cool demeanor.  Check out his career statistics!  He could do it all, especially from the point guard position.

 

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Monday, November 28, 2011

James Donaldson spoke at the Redmond Chamber of Commerce

I had a great time in speaking with the Remond Chamber of Commerce and their small business entrepreneurs during their monthly luncheon on November 16th 2011. http://www.redmond-reporter.com/news/134050903.html   

I share some of my experiences of being a business owner and of course, spoke on my new book - Standing Above the Crowd. www.StandingAboveTheCrowd.com 

Standing_above_the_crowd

Countdown to the NBA season with my personal experiences of playing against the NBA's All-Time 50 Greatest Players - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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 THE 50 GREATEST PLAYERS IN NBA HISTORY

One of the most frequently asked questions that I encounter besides “how tall are you?” is either “who is the greatest player you’ve ever played against?” or “who is the toughest player you’ve ever played against?”  Depending on who's asking the question and their knowledge of basketball, I typically give a couple of different responses.  There's a big difference between “the greatest” and “the toughest.”

The game of basketball has been around for a long time now and it has evolved over the years from when Dr. James Naismith first tied a peach basket to an old barn post and the players were shooting two-hand set shots, to today where the game is played on a global scale with some of the finest athletes in the world.  There were great players back in the beginning of the game, just as there are great players now.  I don't know if it's ever totally fair to compare players from one era with players of another.  Periodically you see sports aficionados coming up with hypothetical computerized scenarios of, say, the great Green Bay Packers of the Sixties versus the New England Patriots of the new millennium.  It's impossible to really say who the best players are or which team would come out on top.  But it's a fun exercise and it creates a lot of heated conversation among the fanatics and all of us.

I was lucky to play during perhaps the greatest era of NBA basketball.  My NBA career spanned two decades essentially, 1980 – 1996.  Some of the greatest NBA players ever to play the game played during those years.  I remember as a rookie in 1980 marveling at the incredible Dr. J. and I’ve also been able to witness the new era of NBA basketball that was brought to us by Ervin “Magic” Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan.

All in all, I was privileged to play against over thirty of the all-time fifty greatest NBA players.  I'm going to go through the whole list and share my thoughts with you in regards to either actually playing against them or watching them while I was still a youngster.  They are listed in alphabetical order, and if you want to find the actual numerical order in which they are listed by the NBA, you can check out their website at NBA.com

As a special addition, I’ve asked a couple of my mentors – Tom “Satch” Sanders, eight-time NBA champion with the Boston Celtics, and Lenny Wilkens, NBA Hall of Famer both as a player and coach –  to contribute their real-life experiences in what it was like to play against some of the all-time greats of their era.  Thanks, guys!  I really appreciate you. 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem_abdul_jabbar
I often tell the story of how as a rookie during my very first professional game playing for the Seattle SuperSonics in the Kingdome in Seattle, I was lined up against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.  Kareem was already a ten- to twelve-year established veteran and well on his way to becoming one of the greatest players ever to play the game.  I remember checking into the game for just a few minutes and given the instructions to go guard Kareem.  As we were lining up on the foul line I remember thinking to myself, “Wow, here is the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and I'm going to have to figure out a way to not get embarrassed out here.”  I also remember thinking to myself, “Kareem already has over 20,000 points in his career and I've got zero.” 

 

It was truly one of my first tests as far as trying to establish myself as an NBA player.  I was nervous as all-get-out, but after jostling with Kareem and “bodying” with him for a few minutes, I started to calm down and felt a little more comfortable.

 

In my estimation, Kareem was the most unstoppable player to ever play the game.  With that fantastic skyhook of his, he could shoot and score at will and with great accuracy.  There was nothing you could do to slow down Kareem other than hope and pray that his teammates didn't feed him the ball all night long and/or he was having an extremely rare night off…but that hardly ever happened.

 

So that's one variation of the question I'm asked as far as “who's the toughest or greatest player you’ve ever played against?”… I always answer that Kareem was the most unstoppable, hands- down!

Standing_above_the_crowd
The Perfect Christmas Gift!!!

Order you own personally autographed copy of Standing Above the Crowd www.StandingAboveTheCrowd.com in time for the holidays.  Only $19.95 and autographed by yours truly, James Donaldson; author, business entrepreneur, professional speaker and former NBA All-Star.

What better way to start the New Year out than with an inspiring, uplifting, motivating book on life, personal goals and being the best you can be… no matter what your circumstances.

It’ll make a great gift for those around you who might benefit from a little “Get – Up – And – Go” boost in their lives.

Standing Above the Crowd is also available in ebook format on www.amazon.com


Happy Holidays!

James Donaldson