Lex Nihil Novi - Russell vs Chamberlain, Game 82

Who would believe that a team could have one player with 40 points and four other players in double figures and still could lose by six?  Because the other team had three players with 23 or more points, that's how.

Chamberlain and Walker were gifted offensive players.  But Hal Greer was always the one I feared most.  I'll always be convinced that, as often happens on in-bound passes, the player (Greer) who passed the ball in in the "Havlicek stole the ball game" was to take a return pass and shoot a short jumper.  Who knows what the result might have been?  I prefer not to thing about it.

Sam

The Celtics almost had Chet Walker. Auerbach told John Feinstein that in the 1962 draft he was torn between Havlicek and Walker. What apparently tipped the scales toward Hondo was that Walker's college coach told Red that he was "gutless."

At the time Red thought this was really strange since he thought that Walker was one tough player. When Walker went on to show just how tough he was in an outstanding NBA career Red attributed the "gutless" label to personality problems between coach and player.

I watched Walker when he was with the Chicago Bulls in the early '70's. He and Bob Love were a terrific pair of forwards or "cornermen" as they were called then.

Bob Ryan once compared Paul Pierce to Chet Walker. Pierce is in some ways an old school-type scorer. No blazing speed but great footwork, fundamentals and smarts that allowed both Walker and Pierce to create their own shots.

Peoiple say Pierce was the greatest one-on-one player the C's ever had. Walker was regarded as a killer one-on-one threat.

Walker would have been a helluva booby prize but I'm sure glad Red took Hondo instead.