With the 2020 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 the 1st player in NBA history to score 2000 PTS in a season (70th anniversary) through the 2000 Pac-10 POY (20th anniversary), these stars have all seen their dreams come true in past drafts. We continue our series with Marvin Webster. He was 1974 D-2 national POY/tourney MOP, was drafted in the top-3 of both the ABA and NBA drafts in 1975, and had 27 PTS/19 REB in Game 7 of the 1978 NBA Finals. Marvin passed away in 2009 but HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with his brother Steve about the 45th anniversary of Marvin getting drafted twice.
Marvin got the nickname “The Human Eraser” as a junior at Morgan State after averaging 8 BPG: how did he like the nickname, and what was his secret for blocking shots? He loved the nickname, which he 1st got in high school: it was very pertinent to who he was. He was a fantastic defensive player. He got a big kick out of blocking shots, even as a teenager: he would laugh when blocking shots!
He was a 3-time MEAC POY from 1973–1975, and averaged 21 PPG/22.4 RPG as a junior en route to being named D-2 national POY: what did it mean to him to win such outstanding honors? I think it meant the world to him. It was not something that he expected but based on his talent it did not come as a surprise. He did not pursue awards/trophies but he enjoyed them because they came naturally.
He was named 1974 D-2 tourney MOP as he led his team to the title: where did that rank among the highlights of his career, and what was the reaction like when he got back to campus? At the time he won that honor it ranked #1. He was very elated to win the award. He was a quiet/gentle guy despite being 7’1” and never bragged about things like that.
In 1975 he was selected 3rd overall by Atlanta in the NBA draft and 1st overall by Denver in the ABA draft: why did he choose the ABA over the NBA, and did he have any regrets? I do not think that he had any regrets. There were great players in both leagues at the time and I think the ABA just offered him more money: the influence of others might have also played a part in it. Denver was a good team with big expectations for him. I thought it was great that he was picked so high in both drafts.
In Game 6 of the 1978 ABA Finals the Nets overcame a 22-PT deficit late in the 3rd quarter for a 6-PT win to clinch the title in the last ABA game before the league merged with the NBA: where did that rank among the most devastating losses of his career? The devastation set in after he had a flare-up of hepatitis: he expected more out of himself as a great player. I believe it stifled his career because Coach Larry Brown expected more out of him. Anything less than what he could give was a disappointment to him.
Despite having 27 PTS/19 REB for Seattle in Game 7 of the 1978 Finals at home, Washington pulled out a 6-PT win to clinch the title: how was he able to play his best when it mattered the most? He had a good series against Washington. We talked a lot on the telephone at night after the games. He was playing against Wes Unseld, who was 1 of his idols.
Take me through the 1984 NBA playoffs with the Knicks:
What are your memories of Game 5 of the 1984 Eastern Conference 1st round against Detroit (Isiah Thomas scored 16 PTS in the final 93 seconds of regulation to send it to OT, but Bernard King scored 44 PTS despite having the flu and 2 dislocated middle fingers in a 4-PT OT series-clinching win by the Knicks)? The Knicks had huge expectations when they acquired him but his condition did not allow him to give his all.
Larry Bird had a triple-double (39 PTS/12 REB/10 AST) to lead eventual champion Boston to a win in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals: where does that Boston team rank among the greatest he ever faced? He would say that they were great…but I think he would say that if he was 100% he would have been 1 of the best centers in basketball. Marvin could have matched up with any center if he was healthy.
His son Marvin Jr. was recruited to play basketball at Temple, but died in 1997 from a heart attack prior to his sophomore season: how close were the 2 of them, and how did he cope with the passing of his son? My brother loved his son more than anything in the world. The passing of his son was probably among the most devastating times of his life: a lot of him passed with Marvin Jr. and I do not think he ever got over it. His son loved him as well, even though they lived apart for quite a few years. He went into a depression and never fully recovered.
In 2006 he was 1 of 10 players named to the D-2 50th Anniversary All-Elite 8 Team: do you consider him to be 1 of the best players in D-2 history? Undoubtedly. He was 1 of the best players at his position in the world at the time before he got sick. He was awesome and he enjoyed the game.
In 2009 he was found dead in a Tulsa hotel room and it is believed that he died of a coronary artery disease: when people look back on his career, how do you want him to be remembered the most? I hope people remember him as 1 of the kindest/nicest people I have ever known. He would want people to remember his true personality. He played in Seattle with Jack Sikma, who was a Christian man who looked to the Lord for strength. He did a lot of good for a lot of people and tried to help everybody.