The NBA Finals date back to 1947 (when they were known as the Basketball Association of America Finals) and the very 1st NCAA tourney was held in 1939. Olympic basketball competition is even older: it debuted as a demonstration event in 1904 and the men’s version became a medal sport in 1936, with the women finally getting their chance to go for the gold in 1976. The United States has dominated Olympic basketball competition from the start: the men have won 15 gold medals in the 18 tournaments they have participated in during the past 84 years, while the women have won 8 gold medals in the 10 tournaments in which they have competed during the past 44 years. Those of you who were looking forward to the 2020 Olympics opening ceremonies in Tokyo on July 24, 2020 will have to wait an extra 364 days, as the coronavirus caused a postponement until July 23, 2021. Due to the absence of college basketball since mid-March, HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel decided to fill the void by trying to interview as many prior Olympic players/coaches as possible so that you have something to read this summer while not watching the Summer Games. We continue our coverage by chatting with Kevin Joyce about making a game-winning shot in the 1972 NCAA tourney and playing in the most controversial basketball game in Olympic history. Today is Kevin’s 69th birthday so let us be the 1st to wish him a happy 1!
(photo credit: patch dot com)
You were born/raised in New York and went to high school at Archbishop Molloy: what was it like to be at a school with so much basketball talent including future national COY Jim Larranaga (2 years ahead of you) and future NBA All-Star Brian Winters (1 year behind you)? It was a very good school and we had a legendary coach in Jack Curran, who should be in the Hall of Fame. I went to Catholic school my whole life and my family was friends with Frank Rienzo, who was the track coach and later hired John Thompson as the athletic director at Georgetown. It was a great experience to play there.
You played for Hall of Fame coach Frank McGuire at South Carolina: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? He was a different kind of coach then Mr. Curran. I ended up having some free reign to expand my game, especially as a freshman, since we were not allowed to play on the varsity back then. Our freshman coach was Donnie Walsh, who was an assistant to McGuire. He let me bring the ball up on every possession so that I could learn how to play in the backcourt, which helped me a lot. We had a lot of talent on that team. Curran had played for McGuire at St. John’s so it was an easy transition, especially with guys like John Roche/Tom Owens. Brian followed me there the following year and it was a good fit for everybody.
In the 1971 ACC tourney title game you tapped the ball to Owens in the final seconds for the game-winning layup in a 1-PT win over North Carolina: how were you able to out-jump 6’10” Lee Dedmon, and what was the feeling like in your locker room afterward? It was a great win for us. I had just come back after having a blood clot in my left leg. That play would probably not happen today due to the possession arrow but I was always a good 2-footed jumper and played against big guys in high school like Len Elmore at Power Memorial. Tom was open because nobody expected me to win the tip! It was probably the biggest win in state history up to that point.
In the 1972 NCAA tourney you scored 12 PTS including the game-winning shot in the final seconds of a 2-PT win over Temple: did you think that the shot was going in, and where does that game rank among the highlights of your career? Bobby Carver was my teammate in high school/college and knew that I was usually the guy to take the last-second shot. McGuire’s rule was to make our move to the basket with 7 seconds left so that we would have time to get an offensive rebound if we missed the shot. Temple coach Harry Litwack had his team stay back in a zone defense: Bobby told me to just make it so I let it fly and it went in. I had confidence in myself to take the last shot and always wanted the ball in that situation.
That summer you played for team USA at the Olympics: what did it mean to you to represent your country, and who do you blame the most for the controversial loss in the gold medal game (Bill Walton for not playing, Hank Iba for using a slow tempo, the Secretary General, the timekeeper, the refs, other)? Growing up I was always enamored with the Olympic ideal: I read “The Jim Thorpe Story” and always wanted to be an Olympian. I was a rising senior so I fell right into their time frame and worked hard to prepare to play in the best shape of my life at altitude at Colorado Springs for the Olympic Trials. As a kid I wrote down for a school assignment that I wanted to become a pro baseball player and an Olympian: my mother later dug up that paper! We were fast and had good shooters and could run/press but Coach Iba had a philosophy that had been successful in the past. I do not think that any 1 person on our team/staff is to blame. It was unheard of for a guy to come out of the stands and put time back on the clock so I blame Secretary General William Jones alone. The game was not decided until the following day after our official protest: I have a picture at home of myself at a press conference with Howard Cosell/Frank Gifford when they told me about the decision. We decided not to accept the silver medals and have stuck by it to this day.
In 1973 you were named an All-American: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? The big award that every kid wanted to win back then was a Parade All-American like Lew Alcindor, which drove me to do all of the hard work it took to get there.
In the spring of 1973 you were drafted 11th overall by Golden State (11 spots ahead of George McGinnis): what did it mean to you to get drafted, and why did you decide to join the ABA instead? Everyone wants to get drafted and making the Olympic team helped my own draft status. The draft did not have the pomp and circumstance that it does now: I just got a call from my agent after it happened! 1st round picks back then got no-cut contracts but Golden State refused to give me 1. I got picked by San Antonio in the ABA draft and they traded my rights to the defending champs in Indiana so I just decided to sign with them that fall. I enjoyed playing for Coach Slick Leonard and with guys like Roger Brown/Freddie Lewis: I had no regrets.
Take me through the 1975 ABA playoffs as a player for Indiana:
In Game 3 of the semifinals vs. Denver, McGinnis had 32 PTS/21 REB/14 AST in a 6-PT win and in Game 7 he had 40 PTS/23 REB in an 8-PT road win: did McGinnis just put the entire team on his back for the whole series, and how were you able to win 3 straight road games against a team that had lost only 2 home games during the regular season? George was an unbelievable player who had the ability to put the whole team on his back. It was a tough series against guys like David Thompson at altitude so it was a great accomplishment for us.
In the Finals you lost to Kentucky: how close did you come to beating a team with such legends as Artis Gilmore/Dan Issel? Artis was great: I ended up joining the Colonels the following year. They also had Louie Dampier/Bird Averitt. Playing in the Finals is something that you dream of but we knew that the ABA would be folding at some point. I was later traded to San Diego…but they folded 3 months later.
After joining Kentucky the following season you met Denver in the semifinals: how weird was it to play without a visible scoreboard/clock, and when you found Dampier open in the final seconds did you think that he released his potential game-tying 3 before the clock struck zero? I have no idea why the scoreboard was not working: they had a decent arena.
What have you been up to since retiring from basketball, and what do you hope to do in the future? After I got hurt I returned to South Carolina as an assistant for Frank for 4 years. I did not like the recruiting aspect so I ended up working on Wall Street for 35 years as an institutional sales trader until things went sour in 2008. If you look at the New York Stock Exchange there are hardly any people there now due to all of the computers. I spent some time at a golf course/ski resort and lived in Long Island before moving to Utah to be closer to some of my kids. My wife is a ski instructor at Deer Valley and all 3 of my brothers were golf professionals. I turn 69 this month and am getting up there.
For more info about the 1972 US Olympic team check out “Stolen Glory” by Mike Brewster and Taps Gallagher at: www.amazon.com/Stolen-Glory-Mike-Brewster/dp/1882383796