One Man, Two Worlds [Part 3]

(2nd March, 2010)

There was always a distinct line between Bill Bradley’s life as a basketball player, and his other life as a government official.  During his playing days, the New York Knicks’ forward was surrounded by an eclectic group of individuals who comprised, perhaps, the greatest team in all of New York sports.  In later years, as he enjoyed a three-term run as a New Jersey senator, one thing had become evident.  The rules of the game were now different.

Bradley admitted, while rehashing that magnificent 1970 title season, which culminated in a seven-game victory against the three-headed monster [Elgin Baylor-Wilt Chamberlain-Jerry West] and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers, that all the beatitudes he had learned on the court rested there, and were never consciously brought into the political arena.

At least, all of Bradley’s teammates had bought into Red Holzman’s various concepts, such as hitting the open man on offense and playing a team-oriented defense.  The second half of Bradley’s very public world wouldn’t be quite as harmonious; he spent three terms [1979-97] in the US Senate seated among two of this nation’s most bitter groups of people -Democrats and Republicans.

[Note: Bradley, who may be remembered more as a ballplayer because of New York’s two championships, would parlay both court sense and a lethal outside jump shot, into a distinguished Hall-of-Fame career.  Bradley -known for making intelligent decisions- opted for early retirement in 1976, and immediately pursued his next passion.  At his swear-in, on January 3, 1979, the 35 year-old Democrat had become the youngest-sitting senator.]

This night, however, was all about how that decade began.

“In ‘Values of the Game’ [1998/Artisan],” he recalled, “I wrote that the story of the 1970 Knicks was the fifth game and the seventh game.  It’s a story about resilience, like a hammer hitting metal instead of brick.  When we faced adversity, we didn’t break; we just became stronger.  That was among many of the values which were reflected in that season.”

Bradley referenced three bench players [Bill Hosket, Don May and Mike Riordan] to illustrate his point.

“Riordan made real contributions, and always did what he was asked to do.  And, he did it very well.  Mike gave totally -and unselfishly- to the rest of us.  Every day, May and Hosket tried to kill us in practice.  We couldn’t lose our sharpness, because they were always there to challenge us.”

“I think we played basketball the way New York understands, and likes, basketball.  They were the only audience in the country who would applaud the pass that led to the pass that led to the basket.  People appreciated the beauty of our game.  It wasn’t a game of strength, but one of finesse and unselfishness -more like ballet than sumo-wrestling.”

Subsequently, the Knicks grew into a team that fans at Madison Square Garden could admire.

“It was more important to have a championship ring [than individual honors].  Obviously, we’d look at the stat sheet after a game, but that was inconsequential compared to whether or not we had won.  Life was lighter.  We looked forward to playing each game, and creating [plays] on the court.  We knew, on most nights, we would win.”

The first 60-win season in franchise history is more than enough to validate Bradley’s words.  But, going deeper, ‘Dollar Bill’ provides one more money shot.

“We also knew we could lean on our teammates.  If one of us –Willis or Walt, DeBusschere or I- had an off game, someone would be there to pick us up.  That’s how well we knew the other as people.  Not just as players.

“Each of us realized that we couldn’t be as good on our own as we were together.”

Bradley, a noted gym rat during his days as a scholar/athlete, would come to appreciate this more than anyone could imagine.

As a junior at Princeton in 1964, he was selected to the USA Olympic Team, and would, subsequently, win a gold medal in Tokyo.  Later, at Oxford on a Rhodes scholarship, Bradley played for Olimpia Milano in Italy’s Lega Basket Serie A.  Olimpia Milano, which has won 39 assorted titles since its inception in 1936, would win the 1966 title and, by 1970, he was the first player in basketball history to win the Olympic-European-NBA trifecta [an accomplishment that has been matched only by Manu Ginobili, a guard with the San Antonio Spurs].

Somehow, Bradley thought his professional basketball career would soon be over.  Instead, the end was just a beginning.

“I didn’t play for two years.  I thought, ‘That was it; I’m not going to play any more basketball.  But, then I realized not to come back wouldn’t be true to me.  I signed a four-year contract, and that was as far as I looked.”

After a stint with the United States Air Force Reserves, Bradley -who was the second overall pick by the Knicks in 1965 [just ahead of future teammates Dave Stallworth and Nate Bowman]- finally joined New York.

“Every year after that, I signed a one-year contract because, after every year, I wanted to reassess where my heart was.”

“The game always called me back.”

Forty years later, he was still there to answer it.

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