With the 2019 NBA draft taking place next week, we will spend the days ahead taking a walk down memory lane with a choice collection of players who are celebrating an awesome anniversary this year. From a future Hall of Famer selected 2nd overall in 1959 (60th anniversary) through a conference POY picked in the 2nd round in 2009 (10th anniversary), these stars have all seen their dreams come true in past drafts. We continue our series with Michael Cage, who was the best NBA player in San Diego State history for the past few decades until some guy named Kawhi Leonard decided to give him some competition. He was a 2-time conference POY with the Aztecs before going pro and beating out Charles Oakley for the 1988 NBA rebounding title. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Michael about having a teammate who made the Baseball Hall of Fame and the 35th anniversary of getting drafted.
1 of your teammates at San Diego State was a PG named Tony Gwynn: how good a basketball player was he back in the day, and could you have ever imagined that he would become a Hall of Fame baseball player? Tony was of the 1st guys to embrace me when I showed up as a freshman while the rest of the seniors were grinding me. He told me that he had my back and was a mentor to me, which felt really good. He said that they had not had a freshman who was as good as I was in a long time. I had no idea that he was even on the baseball team until I had been there a few months and he mentioned that he had to go to spring training. I showed up to watch him play a few baseball games: all he would do is hit homers and get intentionally walked! I knew that he would make the major leagues in no time at all, even after he got picked by the Clippers in the 1981 NBA draft. I thought that he was a pretty good PG who always found me when I was open…but he was an amazing baseball player.
You were a 2-time WAC POY and a 1984 All-American: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? The thing I enjoyed the most was winning a gold medal at the 1983 Pan Am Games. It was the best summer of my life alongside the best players in the nation: Michael Jordan, Wayman Tisdale, Mark Price, etc. The US has not won the gold medal since then. We had to try out for the team in Colorado Springs in front of a panel of legendary coaches: Bobby Knight, John Thompson, Dean Smith, etc. I was fortunate to get called on the final day and we dominated that summer. My team actually beat Jordan’s team at the National Sports Festival the previous year and got credit for another gold medal. I played in the WAC and there were some great players in the conference like Danny Ainge (BYU)/Tom Chambers (Utah). 1 of the coaches was Don Haskins, who I idolized growing up: I was so in awe of him that 1 time when the ref passed me the ball to shoot a FT it bounced right off me! My scoring record lasted for 21 years until Brandon Heath broke it thanks to the luxury of having a 3-PT line.
In the summer of 1984 you were drafted 14th overall by the Clippers (2 spots ahead of John Stockton): did you see that as a validation of your college career, or the realization of a lifelong dream of reaching the NBA, or other? It was both a validation and realization. I went undefeated as a senior in high school with future NBA player Keith Lee as a teammate and we won a state title. Everyone said that it was a big mistake to go to San Diego State…until I led the nation in rebounding as a freshman! It was a big honor for me when they retired my #44 jersey: I still have the photo on my phone and look at it to remind me of all the hard work/determination I put in to be the best basketball player on the planet. I came from a small town in Arkansas (West Memphis) and heard over and over that I would not be able to make it…but when David Stern called my name I just felt relief and joy and emotion. Stockton was 2 spots behind me and he ended up having more AST than anyone ever! It meant so much to me to be selected: at the time the Clippers were in San Diego but they moved to LA that summer.
In 1988 you needed 28 REB in your final game to beat Charles Oakley for the rebounding title, and you ended up with 30 REB in 48 minutes in a 9-PT loss to Seattle: were you aware of how close you were, and was is just 1 of those situations where every missed shot went right to you because you were “in the zone”? Oakley had gotten 30 REB for Chicago earlier that day and there was a big “28” sign on my locker when I showed up to the arena. I played my tail off and it was the only rebounding title I ever won as a player. Oakley never won 1 of his own but he became a big-time player after that. It validated me as 1 of the up-and-coming PFs in the league. Historically centers were the guys to win rebounding titles but the game was shifting towards forwards like Karl Malone/Otis Thorpe. Now there are stretch-4s who shoot threes. Had I been Oakley I would have forever wondered what it was like to win a rebounding title. I lost more games during my 1st year with the Clippers (51) than I had lost before in my entire life. 4 weeks later Seattle coach Bernie Bickerstaff traded for me because he wanted me on his team.
In Game 4 of the 1989 Western Conference Semifinals with Seattle you had 3 REB in a 2-PT loss to the Lakers at home: how on earth was LA able to overcome a 43–14 deficit after the 1st 14 minutes? You can just never rest with a lead: when they turned it on, they turned it on. We were emotional and everything was working…and then their defense just shut us down and they did to us what we had done to them. If it was the 4th quarter it would not have happened but there was too much time left against a crew of future Hall of Famers. I was shocked but the Lakers deserved it because they had the mindset to never give up and kept coming after us.
Take me through the 1993 playoffs:
In Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals you had 6 REB in a 3-PT OT win over Houston: did you notice Winston Garland walk onto the floor in the final seconds as the 6th Houston player on the court, and how did he not get caught? I do not know exactly what happened but I wondered why he did not get called for a technical. Things were a bit lax back then!
In Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals you had 6 REB in loss at Phoenix: looking back on it now do you think that there is any truth to the rumor that the NBA wanted a Charles Barkley-vs.-Michael Jordan Finals (the Suns made 57-64 FT while the Sonics made 28-36)? The rumor did not bother me: you always hear things but I did not buy into that. There was a FT disparity that killed us at the time but I thought that we were the better team, and I think that we could have beaten Chicago because we were a better fit and had more depth than the Suns did.
After winning your 1st 2 games at home in the 1st round of the 1994 playoffs, you ended up losing 3 in a row (including the final 2 games in OT) to become the 1st #1 seed in playoff history to lose to a #8 seed: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? Playoff-wise it is probably right up there. We were the better team but just forgot that you have to close out a series. We had a chance to sweep Denver in Game 3 but allowed them to erase a 10-PT deficit late in the 4th quarter, which changed the entire series. We owned them in the regular season but I knew that we were in trouble after their team woke up. We had never lost a 4th quarter lead that year…and then the next day their players were talking in the newspaper about tying it up. Denver was a young team coached by Dan Issel and in Game 5 all the pressure was on us to win: they just played better than us that day and upset us in front of a sellout crowd at home. We still had a really special team: I had so much fun that year playing for a terrific coach in George Karl and the whole city was behind us. It was tough for me to swallow and Seattle made me a low-ball offer so I left for Cleveland as an unrestricted free agent that summer. Wayne Embry said that he wanted me there and he wanted me now. I had started most of the year at center even though I was not a center and I became a mentor to our young PF named Shawn Kemp. I am still friends with a lot of those guys like Gary Payton/Detlef Schrempf. The moon and stars were aligned and it was actually happening…until we got away from what we were doing. We should have taken them out in Game 3: when you have someone by the throat, you should squeeze. Everyone wants to win a title but that series did not define us as a team: we were fun to watch and were sexy!
You set an Aztecs record by starting 112 straight games in college, and later played in 736 consecutive NBA games before missing the final 3 games of the 1998 season due to a strained left hamstring: what is the key to an athlete staying healthy (training, luck, mental toughness, other)? That damn hamstring! You have to be in tip-top shape, as that will reduce your chances of being injured. I did not miss a game during high school either. You have to work on the parts of your body that suffer the most pain like your back/hamstrings. You also have to take care of your insides: I drank a lot of water and a lot of natural juice. My teammates would call me the “Juice Man”: my portable juicer back then weighed about 50 pounds and when I would turn it on at the hotel the lights would dim. My 1st year in Cleveland I gave everyone a juicer for Christmas: how common is that?! When I look back on it now I know that there was some luck involved. I would eat some unhealthy food every so often but I knew that my body was my commodity: if it was unhealthy then I could not perform. Getting hurt is part of the game and happens all the time but I do not know if it could work today. That is 1 of the crowning achievements of my NBA career because I was happy. Once the streak was over I seriously thought about retiring: during the streak I felt like Superman despite some sprained ankles and back spasms. It was mind over matter: I could tell my body to heal itself. I did not always feel 100% but my coaches often said that they would take 70% of me over 100% of someone else. Nowadays kids in high school play year-round, which can take a toll on their bodies.
Your son Michael Jr. plays college basketball and your daughter Alexis played volleyball at your alma mater: who is the best athlete in the family, and do your kids credit at least some of their success to genetics? My son is 6’10” and has a 7’5” wingspan so he received offers from some major programs. He has already won 2 state titles and lost 1 and even had an undefeated season. My son played with Stanley Johnson and now gets to look forward to his future. I love the sport, which is why I am still involved with it: it is a joy to watch him run up and down the court. He is 1 of those evolutionary players who can play the modern-day game at the 3, 4, or 5. He can shoot the 3, bring the ball up the floor, and does a lot of things well. My wife is very athletic and we are all very tall. My son will get mad at me because even though he is the most gifted he has not even scratched the surface of what he can do. He is a perfectionist almost to a fault. My youngest daughter is my social butterfly who can get along with anybody: I love that about her. My oldest daughter just internalizes things and then will take it out on you on the floor by playing harder than you.
You currently work as an analyst for Oklahoma City: how do you like the gig, and what do you hope to do in the future? I love watching guys like Russell Westbrook. I played against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar when he threw the hook shot up over me at the Forum in Inglewood: the players today do not even now where Inglewood is! I am happy that the guys today are getting their big salaries: it has been good for everybody and the game is at an all-time high. I do not think there is a better sport in the world, even though soccer is more popular. I love hearing their stories because everyone has gone through a lot to get here and everyone is different. I am living the dream: working for an NBA organization that takes such an interest in its employees. They treat me like I am Westbrook: I love the state and the fan support and everything about it. OKC just does it right: they are a model franchise based on how they treat their people. Clay Bennett and Sam Presti are basketball guys who make the right moves. I still coach and train and play pickup games 2-3 times/week…and I get mad when I lose! I am so blessed because I feel that I am at my most useful right now. Most guys go into coaching but I love talking about the game and am never short on words. I had such great mentors as a rookie who got me seasoned right away and got my head screwed on straight. I like being around good people because I appreciate their character and what they stand for: I teach that to my own children.