Don’t Pinch Rory Sparrow; He’s Enjoying the Dream
Rory Sparrow has this great fear of awakening only to find he is living in a dream world and that he really is playing basketball in Scranton and not with the Atlanta Hawks.
“It’s a fairy tale and if I’m the prince, I hope the clock never strikes midnight,” he said.
The 6-2 native of Paterson, N.J., a graduate of Villanova (in electrical engineering), has withstood disappointment so many times he refuses to believe he is an important story and, even more importantly, a chief cog in the Hawk’s machine.
After setting records for assists and shooting accuracy at Villanova, Sparrow was a fourth-round draft choice of the New Jersey Nets in 1980. He was the 75th player picked in the draft.
He was cut by the nets just prior to the 1980-81 season and decided not to give up. He joined Scranton of the Continental Basketball Association. New Jersey then came up short at the guard spots and signed Sparrow to two 10-day contracts before releasing him again in early January of 1981.
“I went back to Scranton again, but I was very depressed,” said Sparrow. “Thanks to the support of my family and close friends I didn’t quit and pursue another career.
“I was called back by the Nets for the last 15 games and then played for them in Southern California Summer League. I thought I made a good impression, too. Then they traded me to Atlanta.
“I was disappointed and surprised. Evidently, the Nets weren’t too impressed after all.”
Fairy tales do have happy endings and Sparrow looked better to Hawks Coach Kevin Loughery than he did when both were with New Jersey.
The deal, for a fourth-round draft pick, was conditional. Sparrow had to make the team. And that he did. He is the Hawks’ point guard in a three-guard rotation along with Eddie Johnson and Wes Matthews.
In his first 29 games for the Hawks, Sparrow was averaging 30 minutes per game, shooting 50 percent from the floor, averaging 9.4 points and handed out a club-leading 114 assists. He also is the best starting point guard in the NBA in protecting the basketball. He had the fewest turnovers, 71. In one four-game stretch over 141 minutes, sparrow made just six turnovers.
“I’m extremely glad just to be in the NBA,” he added. “I was in awe when I came into the league. Suddenly, I was going against guys I watched on television for years. But I found out that if you work hard, you can compete with them.
“The whole thing is confidence and you get that by playing. I should be just coming into form now. I know there will be better days ahead.
“If not, don’t wake me. I don’t want to find myself back in Scranton.”
Guard Ron brewer, obtained from San Antonio in a deal involving forward Mike Mitchell, scored 31 points in 29 minutes in his debut with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Then he went 4-for-15 and 1-for-10 in his next two games… Coach Chuck Daly has his team playing the better clubs tough but still sees his troops making foolish errors in the final moments of the games… Forward Scott Wedman, out with a broken foot, was expected to renew it another 10 days… Hawks guard Charlie Criss wants to be traded because of a lack of playing time.
As of the first week in January, the Detroit pistons were the only sub-500 team in the NBA that was outscoring its opponents… In his first three games after recovering from back problems, Detroit guard John Long had 83 points, including a pro high of 41 against Washington. He averaged 27 points over a five-game stretch… In a seven-game period since suffering an ankle injury, Pistons rookie guard Isiah Thomas was in a shooting slump, hitting assists, averaging eight per game… Rookie forward Kelly Tripucka of the Pistons was playing with a back corset and his thigh taped.
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Pacers Coach Jack McKinney was named 1981 Man of the Year in Indianapolis… Rookie Herb Williams continued to lead the Pacers in blocked shots with 75 though games of January 5. Indiana, which was averaging 7.5 blocks per game, topped the NBA in this category… Guard Jerry Sichting, who was on the injured list and doing game commentary on television, was reactivated January 5, and the Pacers made room by releasing guard Raymond Townsend, who was on a 10-day contract… Guard Don Buse, who had started every Indiana game, topped the league in three-point shooting, hitting on 45 percent of his bombs… George McGinnis, averaging 17 minutes per game, was third among the Pacers in assists and steals.
The Chicago bulls won 13 of their last 15 games last season to make the playoffs causing enthusiasm to run over into the current campaign. But, an ill wind was sweeping the Windy City. The Bulls have had problems generating a winning attitude. They snapped their second four-game losing streak January 5 with a victory over Denver. Through New Year’s Day, the Bulls were 3-13 on the road, making more turnovers than the opponents and generally playing just well enough to lose. They dropped 12 games by five or fewer points… Tracy Jackson finally saw some floor action during the first week of January. Playing a total of eight minutes in two games, he scored 14 points.
Although the Milwaukee Bucks had a comfortable lead in the Central Division, they were stumbling in the friendly confines of the Milwaukee Arena. They dropped consecutive home games to Denver and New York and their record fell to 13-5 at the Arena through January 5. They posted a 34-7 home mark last season.
This article by Bill Nichols appeared in The
Sporting News January 23, 1982
Reproduced with permission of the author.