Artis gets in gear
Cleveland - Artis Gilmore, for one, does not think the 7-2 meal ticket of the Chicago Bulls is on the downside of a fine, but frustrating career.
Gilmore, 32, has no middle-age spread and his desire to play
the game remains, perhaps greater then ever.
“Why is everybody trying to write me off?” Gilmore
asks rhetorically. “I feel good. I couldn’t feel
any better, and that’s no joke.”
Gilmore, probably the strongest man in the National Basketball Association, retains a 33-inch waist, the envy of men a foot shorter and years younger.
“I want to be the team leader again,” said the 10-year veteran. “I want to set an example again by playing hard myself. If I play hard, then it is very easy for me to say ‘C’mon guys, Play harder.’”
Gilmore led the Bulls to the playoffs last season and he feels he has a chance to win an NBA championship ring to match the one he won with the Kentucky Colonels in the old American Basketball Association.
“Morale, for a change, has been tremendous,” said Gilmore. “This team gained a lot of confidence last year by making the playoffs. Finally, we’ll have the same coach for three years and the same offense. This team can go a long way.”
Gilmore, noted as the world’s tallest scuba diver, switched to golf for recreation this past off-season, playing some courses in Spain. . . . Bulls forward Larry Kenon still wants to be traded and the Bulls are trying to oblige him. . . . Chicago’s top draft choice, Orlando Woolridge of Notre Dame, still has not signed a contract. His agent is Larry Fleisher, counsel for the NBA Players Association.
Bulls forward Coby Dietrick went on a 21-day trip last summer
down the Colorado River in a 13-foot raft.
Guard Bobby Wilkerson, who signed a $400,000 contract with the
Cleveland Cavaliers for his defensive prowess, led the club
in scoring during the exhibition season with an average of 13.4
points per game. . . . Look for a pair of $700,000 signees,
center James Edwards and forward Scott Wedman, to come off the
bench for the Cavaliers. . . . Cavs Owner Ted Stepien, who set
up his own Northern Ohio radio network for Cavs broadcasting,
already has realized a gross of $400,000 in advertising. . .
. Indiana’s Billy Knight captured the NBA tennis tournament
title, but it must be noted that Washington Bullets guard John
Lucas, a tennis pro, didn’t compete.
Premier forward Marques Johnson and the Milwaukee Bucks remain
far apart in negotiations, and Johnson has yet to join the club.
Johnson, already under contract, wants more dollars, but the
Bucks say with more dollars there should be more years in the
contract. . . . The Bucks were shopping for a power forward.
. . . Super sixth man Junior Bridgeman has taken over Marques
Johnson’s small forward spot while Mickey Johnson and
Pat Cummings share the power forward post. . . . Bucks rookie
Alton Lister is working at both center and power forward.
Detroit Pistons Coach Scotty Robertson, like nearly everyone
else, loves rookie guard Isiah Thomas, but says, “He makes
big league plays and high school turnovers. He still needs time.”
Robertson has turned over the playmaking duties to the 20-year-old
Indiana All-America, but is nearly as high on rookie Kelly Tripucka,
the forward from Notre Dame. “I think both of these rookies
will be outstanding,” said Robertson.
Bobby Leonard, former Indiana Pacers coach, has filed a petition
seeking to halt the club’s effort to make him fulfill
his obligation under a five-year contract signed in 1979. Leonard
was fired in June, 1980, but still is being paid under that
agreement. The Pacers demand that he return to full-time employment
to take the title of general manager, but with fewer responsibilities
and with more restrictions than originally outlined in the contract.
. . . Reportedly, the Los Angeles Lakers and New Jersey Nets
are interested in the Pacers’ Clemon Johnson.
The Cavaliers traded guard Mike Bratz to San Antonio for a third-round draft choice in 1983. Cleveland gave Dallas its No. 1 pick in 1984 last year to obtain Bratz. Cleveland also waived forward Lee Johnson, who signed a two-year contract calling for $125,000 per season. The Cavs had 13 players with guaranteed pacts and finally decided that Johnson’s agreement was the easiest to swallow.
The Atlanta Hawks have waived Marvin Delph, who will return to play another season with Athletes in Action. . . . The Hawks are bugged by injuries, with guard Wes Matthews out with a broken left foot, guard Eddie Johnson sidelined with personal problems, forward John Drew with a stress fracture of his left foot, forward Danny Roundfield complaining of a sore foot and Coach Kevin Loughery suffering from heartache.
This article by Bill Nichols
appeared in The Sporting News November 14, 1981
Reproduced with permission of the author.