Chin Diesel
Power of Love
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I don't know the name (Storied?) but saw an interesting documentary on Sam Bowie. Went through the whole gamut from high school, college, pros and finally back to Kentucky for horse racing.
Several parts stood out.
In high school the consensus #1 player debate was between him and Ralph Sampson. After Bowie committed to Kentucky, Ralph had indicated he was going there too but on signing day signed with the Cavs.
The first time Bowie and Sampson played each other was the McD's capitol classic game. Compare that to today when these high school kids are competed against each other every summer. Sampson destroyed him and Bowie says that was the first time he knew there was someone against he couldn't equal.
Bowie was a freakishly good high riser. Had a very solid frosh year at Kentucky. Then he was selected for the US Olympic team. We boycotted Moscow and the college kids on the Olympic team played a series of games against NBA All-stars. Bowie held his own against Moses and Sikma.
His first leg injury was an awkward fall while finishing an alley-oop against Vandy. Looks like he was undercut a bit too.
It's amazing how poorly diagnosed his injury was and the treatment plan. 2+ years for the injury to heal. It didn't help that Bowie lied to cover up the extent on the hope of getting on the court and to the NBA. In his last year in college he held his own against Olajuwon cementing his NBA credentials.
For the draft, everyone knew Olajuwon was going first. There was coin flip between Houston and Portland for the #1 pick. Portland execs were on the documentary saying they never discussed Jordan. This was because they drafted Drexler the year before and weren't looking at 2-guards.
Ironically enough, Jordan was the first one injured. He had his injury and missed all those games which led up to his comeback and epic game against the Celtics (even though the Celts won the playoff game).
After breaking the left leg in the pros he rehabbed again and then broke the other leg. One of the breaks (I forget which one) was caused by Jerome Kersey rolling on to it as they both fell to the ground. His final leg injury happened in the layup line without even jumping.
After the doc was over the following stuck out to me.
Bowie chose Kentucky because they were routinely on national TV 2-3 a year and he wanted the exposure for the pros.
Scary at how poor the medical diagnosis and rehab he had from his injuries.
Equally scary is how little preventative diagnosis there was at the time. No MRI's, no DNA analysis, etc. Compare that to brain scans now for NFL players to get baselines so they can't hide injuries when they happen or the kid from Baylor who found out he had Mafran's and wouldn't ever be drafted.
Bowie was far from being a bust when healthy. Barkley that up. Big difference between Bowie and Kwame Brown or Benoit Benjamin.
It was pretty cool that in the early 80's there was Bowie, Ewing, Sampson and Olajuwon all playing at the same time.
Several parts stood out.
In high school the consensus #1 player debate was between him and Ralph Sampson. After Bowie committed to Kentucky, Ralph had indicated he was going there too but on signing day signed with the Cavs.
The first time Bowie and Sampson played each other was the McD's capitol classic game. Compare that to today when these high school kids are competed against each other every summer. Sampson destroyed him and Bowie says that was the first time he knew there was someone against he couldn't equal.
Bowie was a freakishly good high riser. Had a very solid frosh year at Kentucky. Then he was selected for the US Olympic team. We boycotted Moscow and the college kids on the Olympic team played a series of games against NBA All-stars. Bowie held his own against Moses and Sikma.
His first leg injury was an awkward fall while finishing an alley-oop against Vandy. Looks like he was undercut a bit too.
It's amazing how poorly diagnosed his injury was and the treatment plan. 2+ years for the injury to heal. It didn't help that Bowie lied to cover up the extent on the hope of getting on the court and to the NBA. In his last year in college he held his own against Olajuwon cementing his NBA credentials.
For the draft, everyone knew Olajuwon was going first. There was coin flip between Houston and Portland for the #1 pick. Portland execs were on the documentary saying they never discussed Jordan. This was because they drafted Drexler the year before and weren't looking at 2-guards.
Ironically enough, Jordan was the first one injured. He had his injury and missed all those games which led up to his comeback and epic game against the Celtics (even though the Celts won the playoff game).
After breaking the left leg in the pros he rehabbed again and then broke the other leg. One of the breaks (I forget which one) was caused by Jerome Kersey rolling on to it as they both fell to the ground. His final leg injury happened in the layup line without even jumping.
After the doc was over the following stuck out to me.
Bowie chose Kentucky because they were routinely on national TV 2-3 a year and he wanted the exposure for the pros.
Scary at how poor the medical diagnosis and rehab he had from his injuries.
Equally scary is how little preventative diagnosis there was at the time. No MRI's, no DNA analysis, etc. Compare that to brain scans now for NFL players to get baselines so they can't hide injuries when they happen or the kid from Baylor who found out he had Mafran's and wouldn't ever be drafted.
Bowie was far from being a bust when healthy. Barkley that up. Big difference between Bowie and Kwame Brown or Benoit Benjamin.
It was pretty cool that in the early 80's there was Bowie, Ewing, Sampson and Olajuwon all playing at the same time.
