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Ask a non-basketball fan about “The Iceman” and they might respond that it was a terrible sci-fi film from the 1980s about a prehistoric man who gets resuscitated. Ask a basketball fan and they will tell you that the real Iceman was George Gervin, who earlier this month was named 1 of the 75 greatest players in NBA history. His sensational scoring ability revealed itself during his sophomore year at Eastern Michigan when he scored 29.5 PPG in 1972. After joining the San Antonio Spurs he won the 1978 scoring title by scoring 63 points in the final game of the regular season (including a then-NBA record 33 points in the 2nd quarter) while sitting out the entire 4th quarter. He won 3 more scoring titles during a 4-year span from 1979-1982, finishing his career with the most scoring titles of any guard in NBA history prior to some guy named Michael Jordan. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with George about his famous “finger roll” and being a great scorer. Today marks the 25th anniversary of George being named 1 of the 50 greatest players in NBA history on October 29, 1996, so we take this time to celebrate his legacy.
As a kid you played basketball at a cousin’s house with a young neighbor named Ralph Simpson (who later was your teammate on the West squad in the 1975 ABA All-Star Game): who was the better player growing up, and what was it like to finally become his teammate a couple of decades later? Ralph was the better player back then: we all admired him when we were growing up. He does not get enough credit for his game in college. We played a lot during the summer and I am truly a fan.
Virginia Squires scout Johnny Kerr allegedly saw you score 52 PTS for the Pontiac Chaparrals in the Eastern Basketball Association and then signed you to a contract for $40,000/year, but another rumor is that you made 22-25 3-PT shots at a tryout for Virginia and they immediately signed you without ever having seen you play an actual game: which is the real story? Johnny saw me playing for a semi-pro team and I scored about 38 PPG: he happened to be at a game where I scored 52 and they flew me in for a tryout. I made a ton of threes and they signed me on the spot.
In the winter of 1974 Virginia owner Earl Foreman sold you to San Antonio and then changed his mind, followed by Spurs owner Angelo Drossos filing a lawsuit and a judge granting a permanent injunction allowing you to play for Spurs: what was it like to watch your career being decided in a court of law? You never want to end up in the court system. It was tough for me to go through that as a 20-year old but it showed me how the basketball business worked.
Your trademark move was the finger roll, which you could do from as far away as the FT line: how did you 1st develop the move, and what made it so effective? Wilt Chamberlain/Dr. J/Connie Hawkins each had their own version of the move: I studied how they did it and then created my own type to make it famous.
In Game 7 of the 1976 ABA Semifinals you scored a game-high 31 PTS in a 7-PT loss to eventual champion New York: how difficult was it for you to switch from forward to guard after teammate James Silas got hurt? It was pretty easy for me because I was only 185 pounds at the time: it helped change my entire career when I became a 2-guard. I fought it at 1st but it became real easy for me.
Take me through the final day of the 1978 NBA season:
You needed to score 59 PTS to edge out David Thompson for the scoring title after Thompson had scored 73 PTS only hours earlier: did you think you still had a chance to overtake him? I did not really think about it at the time but Coach Doug Moe found out and told me what I had to do.
You started off your own game at New Orleans by missing 6 six straight shots/calling timeout/asking your teammates to give up the chase, but they ignored your request and you ended up scoring a career-high 63 PTS in only 33 minutes while sitting out the entire 4th quarter in a loss to win the scoring title: how on earth did you score a then-NBA-record 33 PTS in the 2nd quarter, and what did it mean to you to win the scoring title? It was my 1st scoring title: the beauty of having a good relationship with my team is that they set picks for me and gave me the ball. They kept edging me on and I ended up with 53 PTS in the 1st half. I technically scored 59…but made sure to score a few more in case they miscalculated!
You led the NBA in scoring each year from 1978-1980 (including a high of 33.1 PPG in 1980) and again in 1982, and your career 25.1 PPG remains #10 all-time: what is your secret for being a great scorer? I was fundamentally sound and knew how to score. I could drive to the basket or shoot off the dribble and I made a lot of in-between shots so scoring was easy for me: it all came from preparation.
Take me through the 1979 playoffs:
You had 33 PTS/12 REB and made 2 FT with 11 seconds left to clinch a 3-PT win over Philly in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals: how big a deal was it to finally win a 7-game playoff series victory after the Spurs had lost each of their 9 previous 7-game series? Philly had Dr. J. at the time and I had a lot of respect for him so it was a big win for our franchise.
You scored 42 PTS in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals but Bob Dandridge made a 16-footer over 3 defenders with 8 seconds left in a 2-PT win by Washington to win the series after coming back from 3-1 deficit: did you agree with Coach Doug Moe that the refs were to blame after calling 7 fouls against your team in the final 4 minutes? We could have become the 1st ABA franchise to get to the NBA Finals. I do not blame the refs…but the lights went out in the building for 12 minutes which totally ruined our momentum, and once they came back on the Bullets got their own momentum.
In the 1984 NBA All-Star game you scored 13 PTS in a 9-PT OT loss: how on earth did your West team lose despite fielding a Hall of Fame starting lineup of you/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar/Magic Johnson/Alex English/Adrian Dantley? I still do not believe that we lost while having such an amazing team: I guess you have to give the East a lot of credit. I thought we had that 1 in the bag but it just goes to show that anything can happen in the All-Star Game.
In 1996 you were inducted into the Hall of Fame and named 1 of the NBA’s 50 Greatest of all-time: where do these honors rank among the highlights of your career? I want to be remembered as 1 of the greats who had a tremendous impact on the game of basketball. I loved the game and played it the way that it was supposed to be played.