07 May
Bob McAdoo Rumors
Nikola Jokic becomes first center to score 50+ points since 1975
Law Murray: Nikola Jokic is the first center with 50+ points in a NBA playoff game since Bob McAdoo (50 points) with the Buffalo Braves vs Washington Bullets in 1975.
The Athletic: Kawhi Leonard now has 13 career 30-point playoff games with the Clippers, one shy of tying Bob McAdoo (14) for the most in Clippers history. Leonard has five playoff games of at least 35 points, five rebounds, and five assists since 2019. pic.twitter.com/EU5xR3s0ys
Besides Walton and Harden, only a select few former MVPs have received votes for the Sixth Man of the Year award. These include Bob McAdoo in 1985 (sixth place), Moses Malone in 1991 (sixth place), Magic Johnson during his brief 1996 comeback (fifth place), and Derrick Rose from 2019 to 2021, with his best result being a third-place finish two seasons ago. With no serious injuries or comebacks from retirement to be considered, only McAdoo and Malone’s late careers as bench players are similar to Westbrook’s situation — and neither of them was really close to winning the award.
The difference at the time, McAdoo said, was the notion then that by their mid-30s athletes were aging out of their prime. Indeed, no less than Pele, at 35, went from the heights of his career with Santos in Brazil to the nascent North American Soccer League in 1975 and New York Cosmos. “We’re 30 years later, and the thinking has changed,” McAdoo said. “No one is looking at Messi as being too old. You look at LeBron [James, at 37], and he’s showing you can be productive at that age. Tennis players, [Roger] Federer and Serena [Williams] are 41 and they still can play. That wasn’t the attitude 30 years ago.”
The Messi-to-Miami conjecture likely will resurface again, as it has several times the past few years, in part because Messi is a frequent visitor to South Florida, with a home in Miami. And if he comes to stay, McAdoo said, it can be rewarding in its own unique way, even if not necessarily on the world’s greatest stage for his sport. “When you do something like that,” McAdoo said, “you have to do it with full intensity. I think that’s where a lot of older players make a mistake. “Of course, it wasn’t as strong as the NBA when I went to Italy. But it was strong. To me, it was just as exciting, because everywhere our Milan team went, and everywhere we went in the European championship, we had packed houses. We were the team to see. So it was a challenge. You don’t go over to lay down and collect a check. I went over there and played with full intensity.”
Dave McMenamin: Anthony Davis joins Bob McAdoo as the only other player in league history with a stat line of 30 points, 20 rebounds, 4 blocks and 5 steals in a game. And AD is the only player with 30/20/5/5.
