04/19/24
June 14, 2009
How Johnny Kerr's Streak Ended at 844 Games: The late Johnny "Red" Kerr held the consecutive game streak in the NBA, playing in 844 consecutive games from 1954 to 1965, until it was broken by Randy Smith in 1983. Bob Greene tells the story of how it ended -- Baltimore Bullets Coach Paul Seymour intentionally held him out for one game. "[C]an you conceive of Lou Gehrig's manager letting him sit on the bench while his streak was still going, and not even telling him he wouldn't be getting into the game?" Greene asks.
posted by rcade to basketball at 12:20 PM - 5 comments
Jeez, Paul Seymour was a putz,
posted by Joey Michaels at 05:02 PM on June 14, 2009
Is there any conceivable way this could happen in professional sports today? I seriously doubt it. Aside from most players being completely willing to voice their opinion/frustration to their coach, the stat happy fans of today would crucify the coach for allowing this to happen. I'd be interested to hear this story from the fan's perspective. I'd assume they were questioning Seymour's decision during the game.
posted by BoKnows at 10:15 PM on June 14, 2009
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there were days during his streak that Kerr should have been benched (he mentions playing with a sprained ankle?), but deliberately benching him to end the streak is Seymour's putz move.
posted by Joey Michaels at 05:21 AM on June 15, 2009
[Kerr] was the first ever coach of the Bulls and was working out the matchups: "Sloan, take Wali Jones, Guy Rodgers you've got Hal Greer, Bob Boozer you've got Luke Jackson. Erwin Mueller, you watch the big guy."
So it's halftime and Wilt Chamberlain has 42 points and Kerr is fuming at Mueller: "I thought I told you to watch the big guy?"
"I did, coach," said Mueller, "and he's great."
That is a beautiful story.
posted by dfleming at 01:26 PM on June 15, 2009
Classic Johnny Kerr story: