SB Nation User Blog: Anthony Masons Haircut

ACTUAL Radioactive Fallout from Z-Bo/Q-Rich swap

Anthony Masons Haircut — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:04:45 -0000

P&T member and easy to remember nicknamer nyknickerbocker just posted his thoughts on the Z-Bo/Q deal and what it meant for the Knicks potentially keeping David Lee. Memphis is all hot and bothered by our resident double-double machine, and reportedly offered him a 4/5 year deal in the $10 million per range. But, with the acquisition of Randolph, maybe the Grizzlies will back off.

However, nyknickerbocker outlined this very well (check out his post), so I won't address it.

What I did want to address is the ACTUAL potential radioactive fallout from the Zach Randolph/Quentin Richardson swap. We've seen really bad deals orchestrated by former team president Isiah Thomas - two first round picks for Eddy Curry, Trevor Ariza for Steve Francis, MLE's for Jerome James, Jared Jeffries, and Vin fucking Baker - but have we ever seen two former Isiah trade acquisitons get traded FOR EACH OTHER?

Could there be dire consequences when one terrible trade chip (Quentin Richardson) gets shipped out for another (Zach Randolph)? Floods? Locusts? Pissed-off Baikal Seals?

Randolph only cost the Knicks Channing Frye, and ~~Steven Francis'~~ the-haunting-soul's expiring contract. Plus, Spike Lee discussing the trade did give us (pause) - one of the fondest memories in P&T's short history. You could actually make the argument that the Richardson deal, despite his ridiculous contract (almost $9M), worked out for the Knicks because it included the draft pick that eventually became Nate Robinson.

My thinking is that because neither the Q-Rich nor Z-Bo trades were necessarily terrible (at least by Isiah standards), that there may only be an 5.2 earthquake or some lighter shit like that (be prepared).

However, what if Jared Jeffries ever got traded for say Tim Thomas... armageddon? The same could apply for coaches. Could planet earth handle Lenny Wilkens replacing he-who-must-not-be-named in Charlotte? Both of these theories pale in comparison to my biggest feat - an Isiah-era acquisition getting traded for a Scott Layden-era acquisition. If Eddy Curry ever got traded for the still-not-expired Keith Van Horn contract and a fresh-out-of-retirement Shandon Anderson...

...then we'd all be totally screwed.

Q: Who is Mike Taylor?

Anthony Masons Haircut — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 02:13:36 -0000

A: He was a 2nd round draft pick out of Iowa State who now plays for the Los Angeles Clippers.

via cache.daylife.com

Fun with Numbers involving Mike Taylor

157 - the number of points scored by Mike Taylor this season entering Wednesday night's game vs. Knicks.

35 - the numbers of points scored by Mike Taylor in Wednesday night's game vs. Knicks.

22% - the total percent of Mike Taylor's season points scored in one night by Mike Taylor against the Knicks.

454 - the number of points that Dwyane Wade would have to score in one game in order to reach 22% of his season total (2,064).

4/12/2009 - the date of the next Knicks/Heat game in Miami.

2 - the number of times Al dumbass Harrington has had a technical foul in the final minute costing the Knicks' potential wins this season.

2 - the number of times Al received said technical against the Los Angeles Clippers.

33-107 - the combined record of the Kings and Clippers, both teams the Knicks have lost home games to in the past week.

cue Francis the Vomiting Man...

Sessions vs. Nate

Anthony Masons Haircut — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:09:58 -0000

To continue the discussion from last night and today's recap, I decided to try to make the argument that going after Ramon Sessions and letting Nate walk may be more beneficial than signing Nate to a long-term deal.

If you take a look at the stats, Sessions PER numbers this season are nothing to scoff at:

16.7 ppg, 6.4 ast, 4.4 reb, 1.4 stl, 45% FG

Those numbers are pretty much a wash when compared with Nate's:

17.9 ppg, 4.0 ast, 2.7 reb, 1.5 stl, 45% FG

PROS: Sessions turns just 23 in April and only made $424K this year. He's 6'3, and can play defense. Not that Nate is the worst defender in the world, but his height is certainly a glaring flaw.

CONS: Sessions is NOT a three-point shooter. In fact, he's just 6-33 for the entire season (Nte probably shoots 33 three-pointers a week). Also, his dunks aren't as cool.

Considering that he made $427K this year, i'm assuming (emphasis on "assuming") that Sessions shouldn't demand much more than about $6M on a short deal, maybe three years or so at $2M per. That's a big drop-off from Nate, who should command anywhere from $5-7M per year. I'd like to re-sign Nate, but the organization has to keep the blueprints for 2010 intact. If you can get a player with similar production for one-third (or even one-fourth) of the cost, it makes sense.

It's at least something to consider.

Opposing players and standing ovations

Anthony Masons Haircut — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:32:40 -0000

I thought I should try my best to make a clarification on a disturbing trend that has happened at Madison Square Garden since the Knicks franchise has gone in the tank: standing ovations for opposing players.

Kobe Bryant's 61-point effort earned him a standing O from the Garden faithful last night. Knicks' fans have a great appreciation for basketball, and under certain circumstances breaking the Madison Square Garden all-time scoring record would warrant such a response. However, Knicks fandom should trump any kind of acknowledgement for a special performance like Kobe's 61.

Kobe's standing ovation was completely unacceptable for several reasons:

A) the streaking Knicks had won 8 of 11 and were just one-half game out of the 8th and final playoff spot in the East.
B) the Knicks have also been playing much better at home of late, and would've gotten a huge boost with a victory over the Lakers.
C) last night's game was arguably the biggest regular season game for the Knicks since February of 2006, and if you want to go back further, to the 2003-04 season.
D) Kobe is annoying and seeing former Knicks fans with his jersey on in attendance makes me throw up in my mouth.

Kobe is embarrassing your team, and you're applauding?!

All of that being said, there are times when a standing ovation for an opposing player IS acceptable:

A) the Knicks are 10 or more games under .500 and out of the playoff race.
B) said player is playing his last game at the Garden and you're really happy that he's never coming back (i.e. Reggie Miller).
C) said player is going to eventually become a Knick, and you're pre-cheering for how awesome he's going to be when he's on your team (i.e. LeBron James).
D) said player prevents David Lee from achieving a double-double (borderline impossible).
E) Isiah is still the coach and you want said player to be kicked in the face and/or groin area.

Just my two cents.

Knicks 122, Pacers 113

Anthony Masons Haircut — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 13:52:09 -0000

(Editor's Note: Our very own Mase attended last night's win over the Pacers and was kind enough to recap what he witnessed. Enjoy.)

Yes, Sir!

Morning, space cadets. I got to catch our streaking Knicks live at Indy last night for another win over a team that totally got bitch-slapped by SSOL.

Before I start, I noticed that last night's game thread had a picture of Jonathan Bender on it. He was drafted out of high school by the Pacers in 2000, after they traded Antonio Davis (fuck him) to Toronto for the 5th overall pick. His career was halted because of chronic knee problems. In 2004, I was told by one of the Pacers' beat writers that Bender used to jump off roofs for fun with the neighborhood kids in his youth. A) Jumping off roofs, seriously? B) how pissed is/would be Donnie Walsh about that? C) NOBODY tell Nate...you know he'd try that shit.

Game-time attire: Yankees hat, Larry Johnson road jersey that I got for my 14th birthday, $7 Starburys that are absolutely hideous.

Side note: I have some pictures but I was having some trouble uploading them. I'll try to do that soon.

On to the game...

PREGAME

- During warm-ups, Al Harrington was greeting a lot of his former teammates. He was laughing with Danny Granger when Jeff Foster came over. Al clenched his fist for a pound and Foster went for a hand-slap. He readjusted and kind of grabbed Al's fist and shook it. You think being around mostly non-pasty white NBA players during his 12-year career that Foster would learn the proper hand-shaking techniques. Awkward.

- Despite being an Indiana native, winning Indiana's prestigious Mr. Basketball award in high school, playing college ball at Indiana University where he was an All-American and led the Hoosiers to the 2002 Final Four, and starting an Indiana-based charity called "Jared Cares" for children with irregular eyebrow growth and mouth deformities, Jared Jeffries didn't get much love from the Pacers' crowd.

For only pennies a day, you can prevent this (above) from happening

- 32 oz. Bud Light, Pretzel, Nachos: $11.00 - this is why I live in Indiana and not NYC/Connecticut.

- The Pacers are doing this team-unity thing of all growing out mustaches (did you know they have like six white guys on their roster?) Troy Murphy and Travis Diener have both given up, but unfortunately Mike Dunleavy is still going strong.

FIRST QUARTER

- Both teams had to have been thrilled to be playing each other. The Knicks and Pacers are both in the top five in the NBA in scoring offense (good) and scoring defense (bad). The Pacers are especially pathetic, giving up 120 points EIGHT times this season (make it nine now).

- Nate gets a steal and goes on a breakaway. I get up and yell "Do something cool!" He proceeded to lay the ball in ala Mike Dunleavy. Talk about a buzz-kill.

SECOND QUARTER

- Cock sighting: Gallo enters to start the quarter.

- Q hits three three-pointers in the span of about five possessions. After each one I yelled "QQQQqqqq......!" which is loud in the beginning and then fades out at the end. I tried to be annoying as possible, but seriously: 5-8 3-pt FG? "QQQQqqqqq.....!"

- Cock sighting II: Gallo nails a three in transistion to put the Knicks up 53-37 and force a Pacers' timeout. I almost yelled "COCK!" but there were lots of kids around. I chose to stand and applaud approvingly instead.

HALFTIME

- I walked around the main concourse of the Fieldhouse to meet a friend at halftime and I got all of zero comments about my LJ jersey. I think it shows how apathetic Pacers' fans are about the team at this point. I love this town, but it's a big adjustment living in a city that is so fairweather about their sports. Less than four years ago, the Colts still weren't selling out the 55,000 seat RCA Dome, now everyone has Peyton's face tatooed on their asses.

- High school cheerleaders was the halftime show. I think that I'm old enough now (25) to officially be creepy for watching it.

THIRD QUARTER

- Danny Granger takes an ice pack off of his right knee at the scorer's table before coming in. Supposedly he's had a nagging tendon injury, but the dude looks like he's in really bad shape. Knicks picked a good night to play Indy, in the 2nd night of a back-to-back. This is probably a different game if Granger is healthy.

- Cock sighting III: A guy in a throw-back Reggie Miller jersey instructs Roy Hibbert to punch David Lee. Not cool.

- Third-quarter sequence: Stephen Graham drives on Richardson (?) and gets a lay-up, Stephen Graham hits a step-back three, Stephen Graham hits a 15-footer. They say these types of abnormal things come in threes, so I got really worried that the lights were going to explode and Conseco Fieldhouse would burst into flames while Stephen Graham ascended to the rafters laughing.

FOURTH QUARTER

- I keep waiting for the Pacers to climb closer than 8-12 points but they just can't. Granger is on one leg, Dunleavy is off, and one of their primary scoring options is Stephen Fucking Graham.

- Pacers got it down to 10 (for like the 15th time) and Nate lobs the ball to Wil for a nice reverse layup. Wil (16 pts) was relaitvely quiet, but that was a big play.

- Pacers cut it to 8 with about two minutes left and during a timeout they do this big elaborate thing where the mascots are doing the slow-clap and fire truck sirens are screeching and the scoreboard says "GET LOUD!" Everyone is on their feet, and Al steps back and calmy nails a three. Onions!

FINAL THOUGHTS

- Knicks are only two wins off of last season's win total and it's still two weeks before All-Star Weekend.

- 31 points for Al. I'll be honest, I was kinda upset with losing Crawford but I would go back and do that trade again 1,000 times out of 1,000. Not only is Al more versatile than Craw, he can also flourish under D'Antoni's system. Now, if only they had gotten anything (fish tacos?) in return for Zach Randolph...

- One of my Pacers' fan friends texted me "Lee is going down" before tip-off. I texted texted back "25 and 15...bank on it." 23 and 17 for Lee. Did I mention there's a margin of error of +/- 2?

- Tim Thomas: 1-3 FG, 2 pts, 4 reb, 2 ast, 0 turnovers. That doesn't seem like much, but I like my Tim Thomas quiet and irrelevant.

- Knicks only make one trip to Indy this year, which is total bullshit. They seemingly play 90% of the non-division Eastern Conference teams four times.

- Here's where we see what this team is made of: Lakers, Cavs, C's all at home this week. I'm still hoping for 1 of 3. If you include the following road trip: Blazers, Warriors, Clips - I'm thinking 3-3 would be perfectly fine, 4-2 would be awesome, 5-1 would be .500 going into the All-Star Break which may induce a pleasure-overload coma (at least for me).

Just for kicks: Steelers 24, Cardinals 10 - but I'm a Giants fan and could really care less.

Enjoy the Super Bowl kids. Go Knicks.

All-White American NBA All-Stars!

Anthony Masons Haircut — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 20:44:35 -0000

The other night in the game thread we were having the discussion of the top white American players in the NBA. I was talking it over with a few co-workers, and here is the starting five that we came up with:

PG Kirk Hinrich, SG Mike Dunleavy, SF Mike Miller, PF David Lee, C Chris Kaman

Since Kaman played for the German National team in last summer's Olympics, Seth said that he should be disqualified. In that case, I'd put Spencer Hawes as the starting center.

It's unfair to put Lee on this list because he transcends race

Bench: PG Steve Blake, SG Jason Kapono, SF Joe Alexander (??? find me another good white American 3 - and I refuse to put Adam Morrison here), PF Kevin Love (because Troy Murphy sucks), C Jeff Foster (hey, he hustles...)

Someone at work asked me today if this was 20 years ago, what the starting five would be. Here's what I came up with:

PG John Stockton, SG Chris Mullin, SF Larry Bird, PF Kevin McHale, C Bill Laimbeer (yes he did play center).

The bench would be: PG Mark Price, SG Danny Ainge, SF Kelly Tripucka (career-high 26.5 ppg in 1988-89 season), PF Tom Chambers (of Game Boy's NBA All-Star Challenge fame), C Mike Gminski.

Before I let you go, Nate would've never allowed this to happen...

Poor Mark Jackson.

Thoughts on Lee

Anthony Masons Haircut — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:23:49 -0000

NOTE: This was originally going to be a comment in the "Bell/Diaw" thread, but then I went way overboard and turned in into a fan post.

as good as David Lee is, and as much as we all like him, is it in the Knicks' best interests to sign him to a lucrative extension in the offseason? if not, then they need to deal him before the deadline in order to sweeten the pot to shed Curry's ~~fat ass~~ ridiculous contract.

like i've said before, the ultimate goal should be to get as far under the cap as possible for 2010. having already axed Z-Bo and Craw, getting LeBron plus another player (Bosh/Nash/Stoudemire/Wade/...?) is well within the realm of possibility. though Diaw's contract goes through 2012, losing Curry would still free up an extra $2M (according to reports) for 2010.

Fat guys can be cool/talented. Curry is neither.

what i like about this deal is potentially getting Raja Bell. he seems like the perfect fit for this team and fills a huge need: a guard who can actually defend and consistently hit from three (41% career). Bell is 32, but he's not in the long-term plans anyway - his $5M comes off the books after next season - and he could help this team sneak into the playoffs this year. i've already talked about Diaw. his contract sucks, but anybody is better than Curry.

what i don't like about the deal is parting with Lee, but i don't think the Knicks should give him $10M per season or anything like that. i'm really curious as to what he would get on the open market. if it was $10-12M, i would say pass, but if the Knicks can lock him up for four or five years at $6-8M then i don't have a problem with that. Lee is a guy worth keeping around, but Wilson Chandler is the only player that i would label as untouchable.

what does everyone think?

Dear God, please no...

Anthony Masons Haircut — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:30:34 -0000

(Editor's Note: From the Fanposts: I'm with Mase. Walsh's rep goes kaboom instantly if he trades Lee for Diaw.)

The latest from NY Daily News beat writer Frank Isola's blog Knicks Knation:

"The Phoenix Suns traded one of D’Antoni’s all-time favorite players to the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday along with Raja Bell for Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley. The move means that when D’Antoni makes his emotional return to the Valley on Monday he won’t have as many former players to embrace.

But the trade also opens the door for the Knicks to eventually acquire Diaw, especially with Donnie Walsh’s good friend, Larry Brown, falling in and out of love with players on a daily basis."

I don't have any problem with a Diaw/D'Antoni reunion. Though Diaw isn't much of a frontcourt player, he would add some size to the Knicks' interior (think of a thicker and better Jared Jeffries) - which is an area of need at this point.

via www.yardbarker.com

What I do have a problem with is this:

"But now, you could see a scenario - perhaps one that would include David Lee being shipped out - where Diaw is wearing a Knicks uniform."

Yikes.

Besides being a P&T fan-favorite, Lee seems to be one of the few Knicks (along with Wil Chandler) worth keeping around for the LeBron/Amare/Bosh/Nash(?) spending mania in the summer of 2010. Diaw has almost $27M remaining on a contract that goes through the 2010-11 season - a deal which would go against Donnie Walsh's 2010 purging plan. Meanwhile, the Knicks didn't offer Lee an extension before this season, meaning that he will be a restricted free agent this summer.

There were some rumors over the summer that the Knicks were interested in landing Diaw, along with former D'Antoni favorite Leandro Barbosa. I know that D'Antoni would probably like to make it happen, but because Walsh was able to shed so much cap space with the Z-Bo and Craw trades, I don't see him backtracking and adding a guy like Diaw.

It especially wouldn't make sense to ship David Lee to bring in Diaw, who adds minimal value. If Walsh was going to part with Lee, I'm assuming it would either be to sugarcoat a package including someone like Eddy Curry to dump more salary, or in a deal that includes a future first round draft pick.

Knicks 116, Barons 106

Anthony Masons Haircut — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 15:13:31 -0000

Hey kids. Just in case you were out having a social life instead of watching the Knicks in a early November regular season game against a one-win team, here's your recap.

The Thunder sounds like a WNBA team name. I mean tell me where the Thunder are better suited: in a league that has team names like the Shock, Sun, Storm, Fever, Dream, and Mercury, or in a league that has team names like the Knicks, Celtics, Bulls, Hawks, Lakers, and Timberwolves? That's what I thought.

Anyways, I compiled a list of possible replacement names that all would've been better (I always thought "Disorders" would've been cool because then they could be the OCDs), and that's how I'll refer to the Thunder Barons in this post. Side note: No, I won't be referring to them as the Oklahoma City Bombers (dude, not cool).

I was unable to watch the game on television, because I was at work, but I followed the gamecast online. That being said, some of the content in this post may be a dramatization, and may not have actually occurred.

PREGAME THOUGHTS:

- Apparently Joe Smith is still in the League. Good for him

- Robert Swift is a freak show. He's kind of like Scot Pollard on crack, which is scary considering that Scot Pollard probably IS actually on crack. He actually reminds me of the older Pete from the old Nickelodeon show The Adventures of Pete and Pete, had Pete gotten really into drugs and goth rock in high school. By the way, is there anything that looks worse that tatoos on a redhead? Gingers and ink mix like Jerome James and a Hostess bakery outlet.

The older Pete, had he gotten really into crack and goth rock...

- I have some ties to a couple of players on the Disorders including Damien Wilkins. I know that you P&T youngins' may not remember the late 80's Knicks but Damien's pop, Gerald, was one of my all-time favorites. In fact, I still have a Gerald Wilkins poster hanging in my room. Also, I watched DJ White all four years at my alma mater and he's probably one of my top five favorite Hoosiers (about 5,562 spots ahead of Jared Jeffries).

- Orange and Blue against light Orange and light Blue - I'm actually glad that I don't have visuals.

FIRST HALF:

- After 1Q: 37-20 Knicks. 60% shooting. Best. First Quarter. Ever.

- Z-Bo only took one horrific shot (a missed 26-footer) in the First Quarter. The Knicks led by 17. Coincidence?

- Malik Rose entered the game following a 7-0 Knicks' run to open the Second Quarter. The Twisters proceeded to go on a 14-4 run. Coincidence?

- I think Kevin Durant is going to be a great player, but at this point in his career, KD is incapable of doing anything other than scoring. It's surprising because he was such a good defender at Texas. Hopefully Durant becomes more well-rounded instead of just turning into the next Jerry Stackhouse.

- Nate came storming out of the gate to connect on his first four shots. When he's hot, this offense is really tough to contain. Nate's inconsistent play drives me nuts sometimes, but there's no denying that he's a great asset as a 6th man.

- At one point late in the 2nd half, the Knicks had hit 17-22 from 2-pt range, but were 4-14 beyond the arc. The genius of Mike D'Antoni in full effect.

HALFTIME:

- Knicks 68, Court Dawgz 44 (In case you don't get the above reference, OKC has a Arena Football team named the Yard Dawgz. I'm not joking... dawg.)

Yeah, dawgz! (via okcyarddawgz.com)

- My dad actually called me at halftime. This is a big deal because it's the first time my dad has called during a Knicks' game in three years (he didn't even know who or what the Thunder were). He hadn't been able to put up with all the losing and Isiah bullshit, but it looks like he's back on the bandwagon.

SECOND HALF:

- At one juncture early in the Third Quarter, Malik Rose did the chair pull on an unsuspecting David Lee. Lee laughed it off originally. However, after Malik missed a shot and then turned the ball over, Lee ran onto the floor, kicked him in the groin, gave him a double titty-twister, then took the ball and shattered the glass with a thunderous dunk. (Dramatization: may not have happened).

- I love Craw when he's taking good shots and making great decisions. It's pretty obvious that Jamal has been the biggest beneficiary of the Mike D'Antoni hire.

- Johan Petro played for like five seconds. I'm not a big guy, but I feel like I would beat the crap out of him in a fight. Maybe because he's like 110 pounds, or maybe it's because he's French. I think it has more to do with the latter.

- Z-Bo only took three three-pointers and he scored 29 points (at least 20 of which were in the paint). Wow, Zach using his 6'9, 260-pound frame to score points down low instead of hucking up 26-footers? What a novel concept. 29 points and 19 boards for Z-Bo. One of his best performances as a Knick.

- Chris Duhon is a shitty three-point shooter. I apologize if you already knew that, but I wasn't sure if you did because I'm positive that Chris Duhon has no idea that he is a shitty three-point shooter.

- Malik Rose was fouled on a shot attempt and went to the line for two free throws. He did end up making one, but fuck him for having the audacity to attempt a shot.

- Shit, I would've loved to have Russell Westbrook instead of Gallo. I knew the Knicks' three-game winning streak last April was going to cost them (finished with 23 wins compared to 20 for Seattle/OKC).

- I don't know if the Knicks let off the gas or the Cowboy Boots just started playing defense, but the game got scary late.

- 30-point lead cut to 7 with five minutes left. This is why it sucks to root for the Knicks - they never give you a night off.

- Craw and Z-Bo helped the Knicks avert disaster. Chalk up another W.

POSTGAME THOUGHTS:

- Lee's line: 28 min, 7-8 FG, 18 pts, 6 reb - welcome back Dave!

- Martha and I had a lovely discussion in the Game Thread. Screw you guys for having a social life.

- With a 104.8 points per game average, the Knicks are now the highest scoring team in the NBA. Seven Seconds or Less? Instead we should call it Seven Seconds or...fuck you, we're already up 20!

- Math time: The Knicks are now 6-3. 6+3 = 9. 9X9 = 81. 81 is one game short of a full 82 game season. By my expert calculations, the Knicks are on pace for a 54-win season. The thought of 54 wins is slightly arousing.

- Finally, no Mardy Collins... VICTORY!

Rock the house, Dave.

See you on Sunday.

Scrubdown #2: Rick Brunson

Anthony Masons Haircut — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 02:23:49 -0000

Actual Editor's Note: Here's our friend Mase with an homage to Posting and Toasting's second favorite scrub of all time. As of now, Mase denies all allegations of drug use before said homage, though many are still skeptical. Enjoy. I sure did. Here's Mase:

Editor’s note: When thinking about Rick Brunson, I became curious as to how he became the Rick Burson that turned into P&T’s 2nd most beloved Knicks’ Scrub of All-Time. After doing some reserach, I was able to write a semi-accurate biography on Rick Brunson, and how a rough childhood made him the scrub we all knew and loved on the 1999 Eastern Conference Champions.

RICK: Based on a true story

EARLY DAYS

Eric Daniel Brunson was born in Syracuse, NY on a warm June day in 1972. Eric grew up playing youth league basketball and was a successful point guard in his childhood. However, Eric’s basketball career took a major turn when he and his family moved to Salem, Massachusetts when he was eight. Because of his uncanny passing abilities and his innate ability to grow a jew-fro even though he was of African-American decent, he was persecuted among the paranoid Salem residents. Given the town’s history as a hotbed of witchcraft and black magic during the early settlement days, this was not a surprise. Eric spent the rest of his pre-teen years regulated to the end of the bench for the Salem Witches in the 10-12 age division of the Salem Basketball League. During a Salem town council meeting, the Brunson family was banned from having a basketball hoop in their driveway. Despite this setback, Brunson used the broomsticks and other witch-related paraphernalia (including a witch hat with a cut off top turned upside-down to use as a hoop) that was thrown on his yard by angry Salem residents to build a basketball goal. He continued to practice five hours a day.

Brunson's early adolescent jew-fro (similar to Screech's)

HIGH SCHOOL

Though Eric was shunned by his peers at Salem High School, he still made the Varsity basketball team his freshman through senior years. This allowed Salem’s head coach to use Eric as a scapegoat when the team lost. Though Eric never played, he was often attributed all of Salem’s turnovers and missed shots in the box score in the local paper following a loss. After several failed attempts to push Eric off of a cliff on the outskirts of town, the hometown fans resigned to throwing tomatoes at Brunson during home games. Despite the ridicule and taunting, Eric made the best of his situation on the bench. During every timeout, Eric jumped up to congratulate his teammates, even though they rarely reciprocated. While being pelted with tomatoes, he would dance around as a way to pump the crowd up from the bench. During the final homegame his senior year, Eric was doing his usual "bench cheerleading" routine as Salem led by one point with just 15 seconds left. The crowd got so loud that the opposing team’s point guard was unable to hear his coach calling the play. The point guard panicked and ended up dribbling out the game clock without attempting a shot. Salem went on to win the Conference Championship.

TURNING POINT

During that fateful final game at Salem High School, there was a McDonald’s All-American scout named Francis McCankey on hand to see the action. The 1991 game was being held in the nearby town of Springfield. McCankey was searching desperately for a fill-in 12th man as an outbreak of food poisoning from bad McD’s chicken nuggets had decimated the team’s bench of All-Stars. McCankey walked away unimpressed with the so-called "star" players in the Salem game, but was curious about the young man who keyed the final defensive stop of the game while being pelted by tomatoes. Wanting to get in contact with Brunson, McCankey paged his head coach, asking about the "E. Brunson" that appeared on his roster sheet. But, the Salem head coach claimed that he had no knowledge of the player that McCankey was referring to, and promptly hung up his car phone. McCankey stopped into a phone booth in the parking lot of the Salem Pancake House on his way out of town and looked up "Brunson" in the phone book. After wading through the broomsticks, dead black cats, and smashed pumpkins on Brunson’s lawn, McCankey rang the doorbell and invited Eric onto the team.

A bad bunch of Nuggets gave Brunson his first big break

When news of Brunson’s addition to the 1991 McDonald’s All-American team broke in Salem, many residents were incensed. Fearing retaliation and subjecting Chris Webber and Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson to tomato-throwing at the McDonald’s All-American game, McCankey decided to give Eric an alias. Brunson was given the nickname Rick after "Ricochet", the nickname McCankey lovingly referred to him as for the way that Eric bounced-off the bench during every timeout. That day, the "Rick" Brunson was born.

MCDONALD’S ALL-AMERICAN GAME

Brunson practiced and stayed with the McDonald’s All-American team in relative anonymity for the next week in Springfield. He was mainly used as a towel-boy and an intermediary between the sports agents and future Michigan players Chris Webber, Jimmy King, and Juwan Howard. While cashing one of Webber’s $20,000 checks at the CashTime Depot on the east side of Springfield, Brunson was confronted by the team’s video coordinator. Acting as a messenger for the head coach, the video coordinator told Brunson that if he gave him $10K, the head coach will promise 30 seconds of playing time in the McDonald’s All-American game. Though Brunson was of high-moral fiber, he remembered all the tomatoes, the witch-related paraphernalia on his lawn, and the senior prom when his classmates filled his newly-purchased ’79 Ford Thunderbird with cow shit compiled from the neighboring farmlands in Salem.

Cow shit in Brunson's '79 Thunderbird was the last straw

The coaches accepted the pay-off and Rick finally got his moment in the sun. After being inserted into the lineup, Brunson took over the game. All the practice in his driveway in Salem had really paid off. Brunson scored 19 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and dished out 6 assists, but his East team fell short 108-106 to Webber’s West team. Brunson shared MVP honors with CWebb and won a lifetime supply of Filet O’ Fishes. It was the happiest day of his life.

Brunson (#12) starred in the 1991 McDonald’s All-American game

COLLEGE

Brunson’s play in the McDonald’s All-American Game caught the eye of legendary Temple coach John Chaney, who was in need of a point guard to pair up with Eddie Jones and future fellow NBA scrub Aaron McKie. Brunson’s freshman year was off to a great start until Temple took a trip to Amherst to take on A-10 rival UMass. There was a large contingent of Salem residents waiting there with tomatoes in hand. But, the crowd was silenced by Brunson’s 9 points and 6 assists in a 91-72 Owls’ victory. Brunson went on to earn first team all-A10 honors during his senior year.

PRO

Brunson declined a summer league invite with the Boston Celtics, mostly because he wanted to avoid any Salemites that may have made their way to Beantown. Instead, Brunson chose to play professionally in Australia due to his affinity for boogie-boarding and Bloomin’ Onions. Rick came back to the States for a successful CBA career with Quad City and with Connecticut. He parlayed his CBA success into a 10-day contract with Portland, which was extended into a one-year deal. "Ricochet" did his best to live up to his nickname in Portland, but his bench-cheerleading antics did not resonate well with Portland 12th man John Crotty, and his jew-fro made the newly-acquired Damon Stoudamire extremely jealous. Rick was driven out of Portland and banished to the CBA, where he started the 1998-99 season.

WITH THE KNICKS

While back in the CBA, Brunson considered quitting basketball for good and going back to Australia where he had become somewhat of a boogie-boarding phenomenon and had opened a successful joke shop called Ricky’s Trickys. With his passport in hand, Brunson was enjoying one last meal at a Chili’s in Quad City. Suddenly, Francis McCankey walked through the door. McCankey told the kid that he discovered not to give up, and placed a phone call to his friend and then-Knicks’ GM Ernie Grunfeld. After seeing Brunson play, Grunfeld thought that he could be the perfect ingredient to breathe some life into the struggling Knicks, who were hovering around .500 during the Lockout-shortened season. The signing of Brunson paid off on the afternoon of April 25, 1999. The Knicks were fighting for a playoff spot and headed to Miami to take on the top team in the East. Trailing 73-58 late, the Knicks closed the game on 24-7 run, fueled by Brunson doing jumping jacks on the end of the bench. The 82-80 victory in Miami was seen as the turning point for the 1998-99 season. Brunson appeared in the final 17 games of the regular season, scoring a total of 17 critical points in those games, and the Knicks secured the 8th and final playoff spot in the East. During their subsequent Cinderella postseason run, Brunson scored six more points, and was a perfect 2-of-2 from the free throw line. Throttled by the torn Achilles of Patrick Ewing and the back problems of Larry Johnson, Brunson’s bench-cheerleading wasn’t enough to will the Knicks past the Spurs. New York fell to San Antonio in five games. The Knicks re-upped Brunson for the 1999-00 season hoping to catch some more lightning in a bottle.

The rest is history.