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TOMASSON: Decision stings 40 years later

By Chris Tomasson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published April 3, 2008 at 7 p.m.

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Wilt Chamberlain, shooting over Bill Russell in a 1969 playoff game, was among those who regretted playing in a postseason game April 5, 1968, a day after Martin Luther King Jr. was killed.

Photo by Associated Press / 1969

Wilt Chamberlain, shooting over Bill Russell in a 1969 playoff game, was among those who regretted playing in a postseason game April 5, 1968, a day after Martin Luther King Jr. was killed.

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With the nation in mourning 40 years ago, the Philadelphia 76ers called a vote.

The defending NBA champions were about to open the Eastern Division final against archrival Boston. But Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated April 4, 1968, and suddenly the much anticipated series seemed a lot less important.

Wilt Chamberlain voted to postpone the next night's Game 1. So did two other black 76ers players, Chet Walker and Wali Jones.

But there were 12 players on the team. The majority cast ballots to play as scheduled, although it's unclear if any vote not to play would have been binding.

The game went on, with the Celtics winning 127-118 at Philadelphia in front of a very subdued crowd.

With riots tearing apart the nation and King's funeral April 9, the NBA postponed Game 2 from April 7 to April 10. But Jones now looks back and wishes he hadn't played in Game 1.

"I was devastated," said Jones, now the Miami Heat's community affairs liaison. "I was in tears. I wish I had stood up for something instead of falling for anything. But you've got to understand, it was a much different time for African-Americans. I had a job to keep.

"We shouldn't have played. Martin Luther King stood for the rights of not just African-Americans, but Jewish-Americans, Irish-Americans, and we had all of those on our team."

Forty years later, it's still debated whether the NBA should have played April 5. The Western Division final also opened that night, with host Los Angeles defeating San Francisco 133-105, but Game 2 also was pushed back from April 7 to April 10.

"I didn't think we should have played," said Golden State coach Don Nelson, then a Boston forward. "The league should have (postponed the Game 1s). . . . It was shocking. It was like (President) Kennedy's assassination (in 1963)."

The civil rights leader was shot in Memphis, Tenn. Soon, word reached the four teams still in the playoffs.

Chamberlain and Bill Russell, Boston's player/coach, met to discuss when games should be played. Russell knew King personally.

"I've been ripped for this before, but we should have played," said Wayne Embry, then one of seven black Celtics players. "The mayors of the cities and the league office corroborated and properly decried we would play (Game 1 as scheduled).

"It would help occupy people's minds. The Boston-Philly series was big. It would help keep people off the streets. There was fear of rioting in major cities, Boston and Philadelphia included."

Another black Boston player, Tom Sanders, agreed Game 1 should have been played as scheduled. But he said he was speaking for "selfish" reasons because "playing basketball was a chance" for him to briefly escape "how devastating the situation was."

Sanders said the series had a "surreal atmosphere" with little celebrating by the Celtics after they stormed back from a 3-1 deficit to win 4-3.

Then-Warriors coach Bill Sharman remembers a "pall was cast" over the Western final, with players being unusually quiet and there not being the usual joking and towel fights in the locker room. The Warriors were swept 4-0.

One month after King's assassination, Russell became the first black coach to lead a major pro team to a title. Seven years later, Al Attles, a guard on the 1967-68 Warriors, led them to the NBA title, becoming the first black who exclusively coached to win a pro crown.

Attles remembers a feeling 40 years ago "Dr. King would have wanted us to play" April 5. Looking back, he stressed the enduring messages delivered by King.

"I remember the speech he gave in that some day people will be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character," Attles said.

"We've been able to move up the ladder."

And tonight the NBA, considered by many the most progressive sports league, will have a game in Memphis on the 40th anniversary of where King was slain. The Grizzlies will have a moment of silence before their game against Nelson's Warriors.

So long Seattle?

It could be a farewell for George Karl and the Nuggets rolled into one.

When the Nuggets play Sunday at Seattle, it could mark their final appearance in the city. The SuperSonics are seeking a move to Oklahoma City, which could happen as soon as this summer.

"It's sad," said Karl, who coached Seattle from 1992 to 1998. "But I'm optimistic somebody's going to jump up and keep it in Seattle. It's a great NBA city, and one of the best cities in the world. I'd be very sad if they didn't stay."

Great Seattle moments are running through Karl's mind as he prepares for what could be his final coaching visit there. At the top is the win over Utah in the 1996 Western Conference final.

Karl was on the wrong side when it came to Denver's greatest Seattle moment, a 98-94 overtime win to take the deciding Game 5 of the first round of the 1994 playoffs. The Nuggets were the West's No. 8 seed and the SuperSonics No. 1, the series ending with Denver's Dikembe Mutombo on his back, holding the ball up in triumph.

Smith return sought

Indications are the Nuggets will make a determined effort this summer to re-sign guard J.R. Smith, who will be a restricted free agent. The Nuggets have sent out feelers that they likely would match any offer sheet tendered to Smith.

It may not be that tough of a negotiation. Smith, who came close to accepting a Denver contract offer in October, wants to stay.

"This is where I've been for the last two years," he said. "Hopefully, I stay here, but business is business. I love my teammates. I wouldn't want to go anywhere else because I know I wouldn't get this bunch of guys and this much talent anywhere else."

The Nuggets regard Smith, 22, as a key future piece. After a shaky start to the season, he's averaged 15.3 points the past 26 games.

NUMBERS GAME

28 consecutive games played by Nuggets center Marcus Camby, tying his personal iron-man streak set as a Toronto rookie in 1996-97. He can break it Saturday against Sacramento.

WIDE-OPEN RACE

The Lakers have sent voters bumper stickers and buttons to promote Kobe Bryant for Most Valuable Player. It could come to the last precinct in this wide-open race.

If record is the primary indicator, Kevin Garnett of 60-win Boston might have the edge. If it's statistics, 30-point scorer LeBron James of Cleveland could be the man. If it's a combination, Bryant and New Orleans' Chris Paul are compromise candidates.

"There might be people on the court that are better statistically," Indiana coach Jim O'Brien said. "I think, if you're talking most valuable, I can't imagine anybody any more valuable to their team than Garnett."

At least Garnett has done well in the year of a presidential election. Garnett, the only one of the top four MVP candidates to have one, won his in 2004.

HE SAID IT

"The powerfulness of his message was something I was very conscious of. . . . I really related to what Martin Luther King said. I think his (birthday) should be a bigger celebration than what we make it."

George Karl, Nuggets coach, on King, who was assassinated 40 years ago when Karl was 16 and growing up in Pittsburgh.

Super games

* Notable Nuggets at SuperSonics games as Denver on Sunday plays perhaps its final game in Seattle:

May 17, 1978: Seattle 123, Nuggets 108 (Nuggets lose Game 6 of West final, the closest they've been to NBA Finals)

May 8, 1994: Nuggets 98, Seattle 94, OT (No. 8 West seed stuns No. 1 3-2 in first round of playoffs)

Jan. 18, 2005: Nuggets 116, Seattle 110, OT (Nuggets score 21 in overtime, with Earl Boykins scoring NBA-record 15)

Feb. 27, 2008: Nuggets 138, Seattle 96 (Nuggets shoot team-record 67 percent in third-biggest win in their NBA history)