Many great players have overcome serious injuries: Tiger Woods is still having back problems, Michael Jordan missed most of 1 season with a broken foot, and even Tom Brady only played a few minutes in 2008 due to an ACL tear. 1 of the worst injuries you may never have heard of was suffered by Mel Daniels: after putting his arm through a glass door in his college gym he needed 352 stitches to stop the bleeding! He bounced back in a big way throughout the rest of his career: All-American in 1967, ABA ROY in 1968, a pair of ABA MVP awards, and 3 ABA titles with Indiana during a 4-year span from 1970-1973. He was named to the ABA All-Time Team in 1997 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012. Mel passed away in 2015 but HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with longtime Indiana sportswriter Mark Montieth about Mel’s life and legacy. Today makes the 50th anniversary of Mel being named MVP of the 1971 ABA All-Star Game after finishing with 29 PTS/13 REB.
In the 1962 Class A state semifinals his Pershing High School team had a 10-PT loss to eventual undefeated champion Saginaw: how big a deal was it for a team from outside the Detroit Public Schools League to be playing a Detroit team in the state tourney for the 1st time? I was unaware that Pershing played outside of the public schools league. I always thought of it as a city school, as Mel lived inside the city limits. I do not know if that was a big deal or not, but Mel probably did not have much of a feel for it. He never even touched a basketball until his sophomore year of high school after his coach saw him walking down the hall, so obviously he had not followed the game.
In his senior year at New Mexico he was named an All-American (the 1st in school history): what did it mean to him to receive such an outstanding honor? His high school coach (Will Robinson) helped land the scholarship for him. I think it must have meant a lot to him to become an All-American, but he did not have a big ego. He began playing the game later than most kids and was not very highly recruited out of high school so he did not have great expectations. He must have felt honored to receive the recognition, but still humble about it.
In the summer of 1967 he was picked 9th overall by Cincinnati in the NBA draft (4 spots behind Walt Frazier), but decided to sign with Minnesota after they picked him in the ABA draft: why did he choose the ABA over the NBA? The money was much better in the ABA: he probably made $10,000-15,000 more with Minnesota than he would have in Cincinnati. He received a bonus as well so it was simple economics. He was the only first-round draft pick in the NBA that year to sign with an ABA team.
In the inaugural 1968 ABA All-Star Game he had 22 PTS/15 REB in 6-PT win by the East, but Larry Brown won MVP after scoring 17 PTS for the losing West team: did you feel like he was robbed? He was robbed because they took the vote with about 5 minutes left in the game, and by the time Mel helped lead the comeback in the final minutes it was too late to change the vote. The reward at the time was a new car…and Larry ended up selling it to someone. Mel said Larry apologized to him after the game because he knew he had been cheated.
At the end of that season he was named ROY, then subsequently traded to Indiana: how was he able to come in and be so successful so quickly, and why did he get traded after such a great season? The Muskies were probably better than the Pacers that year and Mel had quite a bit of freedom to shoot. The franchise ended up moving to Miami due to some dire financial consequences and the Pacers bought him for $100,000. If they had not acquired Mel that year I honestly believe that they would not be in existence today: he helped put them over the top and made them a championship contender. I would even argue that the ABA might have folded sooner than it did because the Pacers were the star franchise of the league. The other key was bringing in Slick Leonard as coach, which helped them to thrive.
In the 1970 Finals Roger Brown averaged over 45 PPG in the final 3 games of the series (including a playoff-record 53 PTS in Game 4) to beat LA and win the title: how unstoppable was Brown in that series, and what did it mean to him to win the title? That was the peak of Roger’s career: he was older by the time he joined the ABA. He had graduated from high school in 1960 but was banned from NCAA competition and from the NBA. Mel was an emotional guy who loved Roger because he was the cool guy in the room who made everything look easy. Mel said one of the highlights of his career came after the last game in Los Angeles, when Roger walked over and kissed him on the forehead in the locker room after they won.
In the 1971 ABA All-Star Game he had 29 PTS/13 REB for the West en route to being named MVP despite a 4-PT loss to East: how was he able to play his best against the best? He was probably the best ABA center at that time and played harder than most other guys. He was a strong/intense guy who could score in a variety of ways. Spencer Haywood/Connie Hawkins might have been more talented but they moved on to the NBA.
In the 1971 ABA-NBA All-Star Game at the Astrodome he scored 15 PTS and was the only ABA player with fewer than 2 fouls as the NBA had a 5-PT win due to attempting 31 FTs in the 4th quarter: how big a rivalry was there between the 2 leagues back then, and do you think that the fact that both referees were from the NBA affected the outcome of the game? The rivalry was certainly bigger for the ABA guys who were trying to keep their league alive. The NBA guys had nothing to prove, although they grew to respect the talent in the ABA. They appreciated the ABA because the competition for talent drove up their salaries. I cannot speak to the quality of the officiating in the game.
Take me through the 1972 playoffs:
He had a 2-PT win over Denver in Game 7 of the Western Division Semifinals and a 4-PT win over Utah in Game 7 of the Western Division Finals: how does a Game 7 compare to other games in a series? The players give a lot of credit to Slick Leonard because he was good at making adjustments: they would call him the best Game 7 coach ever. They won all 3 of their titles on the road because they were not afraid of their opponents. Leonard inspired confidence in his players. He used to tell them before road games, “Walk out there like you own the damn place.”
The Pacers beat the Nets in the Finals to win the title: how was his team able to play so great despite not having any players on the all-ABA team? They just had great balance with Mel, Roger, Finals MVP Freddie Lewis, and rookie George McGinnis. Nobody had incredible individual stats but they played well together. There are three Naismith Hall of Fame players in that group, and Freddie Lewis is an underrated player.
In the 1973 Finals against Kentucky (“the I-95 Series”) he had a 7-PT win on the road in Game 7 to defend his title: was it extra-special for Mel and 3 of his teammates to become the only 4 players to ever win 3 ABA titles (Billy Keller/Freddie Lewis/Roger Brown)? No doubt. The importance of that kind of thing grows over the years and remains a great memory for the players. Mel got in foul trouble in Game 7 and was not a big factor in the win: it had become McGinnis’ team and he ended up being named MVP, but it remained a great memory for the players involved.
He is 1 of 2 players to be a 7-time ABA All-Star (along with Louie Dampier) and 1 of 2 players to win 2 ABA MVP awards (along with Julius Erving): do you feel like he was 1 of the best players in ABA history? I would not say he was the most talented guy but he was 1 of the best players in the league. He was a great scorer and rebounder. He also got into a lot of fights because players could get away with that in those days. His aggression affected the mental approach of his teammates in a positive way. Overall, he was one of the ABA’s most important players.
His former teammates Keller/Bob Netolicky said that he and some of the other guys went through a “cowboy” phase where they would wear holsters and 6-shooters in the locker room and that 1 time someone was messing around and 1 of the guns went off: what was the gun culture of pro athletes like back in the day? Roger had been deputized as a sheriff so he had the legal right to carry a gun, and Mel and a couple other guys had gun permits. I would not say there was a “gun culture” but it was easier to carry a gun in those days. The Pacers were unique in having a few players carry guns to games, but other players probably owned guns at the time.
Take me through his magical 1979 season at Indiana State:
After retiring as a player he became an assistant for his former college coach Bob King at Indiana State, but after King suffered a stroke and had emergency surgery 4 days before the start of practice Bill Hodges took over as head coach: how was the team able to overcome the last-minute coaching change to go 29-0 in the regular season? The place to start was their star player: Larry Bird. I would guess that Hodges gave Bird free reign and did not over-coach the team. Mel spent a lot of time after practice with Bird working on his game.
In the Final 4 national POY Bird had a triple-double (35 PTS/16 REB/11 TO/9 AST/16-19 FG) in a 2-PT win over DePaul: did he even have to coach Bird or did he just stand back and let him do his thing? Mel definitely helped Larry but I have not heard Larry credit Mel as being a big factor to his success. Mel certainly taught Bird a few things in their one-on-one games after practice, but Bird was given a lot of freedom in games…as he should have been.
Tourney MOP Magic Johnson had 24 PTS/7 REB in a win by Michigan State in the title game (which remains the most-watched college basketball game ever): could you tell at the time how significant that game would become? I remember watching the game on TV like everyone else because Bird and Magic were huge attractions, but I do not think anyone realized the long-term impact at the time. It was similar to when the Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. The game drew a great rating but the legend has grown over the years.
In 2012 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame: where does he rank among the best players you have ever seen? He might not be the best center of all-time but he was the most consistent performer in the Pacers’ early success. There certainly have been more talented players, but that does not diminish his contributions to the Pacers and the ABA. I was glad he was the 1st Pacer to make the NBA because he was the most deserving. He set the tone emotionally and was a good-hearted guy who could get into a fight or write a poem: he wrote literally hundreds of poems. He was part enforcer and part den mother. He named his horses after his teammates and had a lot of character to him. I called him when I heard about his induction and he said he felt bad some of his teammates or Slick Leonard had not already been selected.