I was a decade too late, missed the heyday of these guys playing in the NBA. Except for Alcindor, of course, whom I knew as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lakers icon of the '80s and '90s. Walt "Clyde" Frazier? Oscar Robertson? Only rumors. Frazier felt more real, though, because he led Southern Illinois University to the 1967 NIT title back when that tournament's prestige rivaled the NCAA's. And a lot of people in my country hometown (30 miles north of SIU) recalled Clyde and those do

The smoothest shooter I remember was one of my favorite basketball players - pro or college - during the late '80s/1990s. Chris Jackson, a 6-1, 160 lb. guard from Mississippi, arrived at LSU and immediately torched defenses his freshman year when he averaged 30.2 points a game! Man, was he silky...sprint down court, plant, crossover dribble between the legs, leave his defender grasping while he ripped cord from anywhere on the floor. The guy was incredible. And then consider

Back in the 1990-91 season, every college hoop head knew Mike Iuzzolino and Desi Wilson, including me, the kid who'd never been to Pennsylvania or New Jersey where these guys attended school. But I devoured Street & Smith's college basketball magazine, Blue Ribbon and Athlon, and caught everything I could on ESPN. During ESPN's iconic Championship Week, I still remember tuning in to see Iuzzolino's unconscious three-point shooting performance, which was simply an extension of

I take for granted the freedom to travel, to sit on a cafe's patio drinking what I want, to circulate in the world without really thinking about it. Many years ago, I was blessed with the opportunity to travel through Italy alone for a few weeks while studying and exploring. One of the many photos I took inspired this acrylic painting on repurposed canvas.

I've been going down a lot of rabbit holes lately, remembering players and teams from childhood and digging into archival footage to learn something new. Sports are my drama and theater. I don't watch shows on TV, and I'm not all that into movies. Documentaries and historic footage? I'll take them all the time. Figured I might as well write about what I'm geeking on in case you came here interested in some throwback material. First up, Run TMC. I remember following those earl