I mentioned in a previous post how important training camps are in setting the tone for the season. I want to talk about a couple of training camps I was involved in to validate my point.
After the merger of the ABA and the NBA, I was a player on the Nuggets for our first year in the NBA. Our camp that year was held at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. We had a veteran point guard on the team by the name of Jimmie Foster. Jimmie wanted to show the coaches how hard he had worked that summer and wanted to set the tone for the camp. Therefore, he decided to run from the hotel where we were staying to the gym before the first practice. So while the rest of us were driving to the gym, Jimmie ran. It was about a 5 mile uphill run, starting at about 6,000 feet altitude to another 10,000 feet.
He was pretty tired when he got there, and Coach Larry Brown’s camps were always known to be pretty tough. After about an hour of practice, Jimmie was exhausted. He started to throw up and he got light-headed. He had to quit the practice before it was over, and actually, so much was taken out of him that he couldn’t practice fully for a couple of days. But in a strange way he set the tone. We all felt we had a lot to prove being our first year in the NBA, and were willing to push to the limit. Camp was hard work, but with a sense of togetherness.
We ended up winning our division, despite not being allowed to have a college draft, or a draft of the ex-ABA players like the NBA teams had. We got upset in the playoffs in the second round by the Portland Trailblazers, who went on to win the NBA Championship.
I remember that camp for another reason. One day after practice I was hanging around when a group of about 20 men, many in uniform came into the gym. Just by the body language of the people you could tell someone special was there. There was an elderly man in a wheel chair that everyone seemed to be paying homage to; he turned out to be General Omar Bradley of World War II fame. The Air Force Academy was only a few years old and General Bradley had come in to see it. I was called over to meet him. It was quite a thrill. The common man’s general.
A couple of years later, I was an assistant coach, and we were back in Colorado Springs for camp. The year before we had won our division again, but we lost in the Western Conference Finals to Seattle. We had been beaten up physically by the Sonics. So in the off season we made some changes, most notably trading Bobby Jones for George McGinnis. Bobby was a 6-9, slightly built power forward. A terrific defender, he was quiet and very coachable, but also had some health problems. George was a brute. About 6-8, a great rebounder, very gifted. However, he was quite gregarious, not a very good defender, and not always a real hard worker. While Bobby was a perfect fit for Larry Brown, George was not.
There was a lot of tension around the office before camp opened. We all knew we had gambled that summer, and we were all a bit nervous. There were some definite hot conversations between Larry and our GM, Carl Scheer about the team. I think Carl was pretty happy for us to get out of town, and was planning to come down to camp a couple of days later.
Well, the first practice did not go well. George kind of loafed through some defensive drills, which was always a quick way of getting Larry’s ire. Then he just went through the motions in some offensive drill work. Larry believes in teaching and fundamentals. I don’t think George had the same belief. He was like a lot of veterans, more interested in playing games.
After practice, Coach Brown was steaming and he called a team meeting. In the meeting, Larry asked George if he wanted to be there, because he didn’t want him there if he was going to play like that. After some yelling back and forth, it was decided that George should leave. Only problem, McGinnis had a no-cut, no-trade contract. George had to approve of any trade. So Larry went in and called Carl Scheer and told him we had to trade McGinnis.
So picture poor Carl. We finally left and got out of his hair for a couple of days before he would come down to see how things were going. Boom, he gets a phone call after the FIRST practice demanding he had to trade his newest player, who just happened to be on a no-trade contract.
Carl jumped in his car and raced down to the Springs, which would be adventure in itself. If you had ever ridden with Carl, you would know what I mean. There used to be an old ad which said, “drive safely, watch out for the other driver.” Carl was the other driver. Anyways, before we knew it, Carl was in Colorado Springs where he called the other assistant coach Donnie Walsh, and I to his room to find out what the hell was going on. He wanted to know how we could let this happen.
We didn’t trade George, and needless to say that camp was not a togetherness camp. To be fair, George did improve his effort, and I do not want to blame it all on George. We had some other very difficult players to deal with, too. It was not pleasant, but I always felt that first practice set the tone. That season, Larry ended up resigning with Donnie Walsh taking over. We did not win the division, but made the playoffs where we lost to the Lakers in the first round. The downturn started in camp and we never could turn it around.
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