George Gervin's One Season With Michael Jordan Convinced Him To Retire From NBA
By: Jeff Eisenband
1/11/2017
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George Gervin was on the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team (1996) and the ABA's All-Time Team, and his No. 44 is retired by the San Antonio Spurs. In 14 NBA and ABA seasons, he averaged 25.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists, made nine All-Star teams, was named to five All-NBA First Teams and claimed four NBA scoring titles. The Iceman also enjoyed interacting with the media during his career -- and still does. I was the final reporter to speak with Gervin in a day that the 64-year-old did roughly six hours of interviews, and he was more than ready to riff for another good 30 minutes. Hanging in the NBA's New York office, where Gervin was promoting NBA All-Star Game voting, we discussed his one year playing with Michael Jordan, Bill Russell's role in the ABA-NBA merger, Tim Duncan's fashion, his beef with Pat Riley and why every NBA star should create a foundation.
Gervin played his final NBA season in 1985-86 with the Chicago Bulls. Jordan, in his second NBA season, missed 64 games with a broken foot, but still had an impact on "The Iceman."
After 12-time (nine in the NBA, three in the ABA) all-star George "Iceman" Gervin was traded to the Chicago Bulls prior to the 1985-86 season, Michael Jordan said "I have no comment on the trade. Just say I am unhappy."
It turns out, Jordan was disrespectful to him all season. Comparing his first seasons playing with Julius Erving for the Virginia Squires of the ABA to his final season with the Bulls, Gervin told Bill Simmons on the B.S. Report:
"Doc probably appreciated me a lot more than Michael, because I was old and on my way out and Michael was coming in and was really trying to show his presence. He probably looked at me a little different. He used to always call me... 'hey old man.' I said 'you gon get there, hopefully.'"
ThePostGame: When you went to Chicago for that one year with Jordan -- his second year -- did you think you might be a piece Jordan and the Bulls needed to compete for a title?
GEORGE GERVIN: No. He was too young. He was just finding himself. Then he got hurt and I took his spot, so I gave him a chance to show him some history. He was just enjoying it in his own way. I remember I had 35 at Dallas and I ended up with 45. He came up to me and said, "What happened old man, you get tired?" I'll never forget that. I said, "Young fella, I was just showing you how I used to be." Think about it, I started my career with Dr. J and finished with Mike. I got a chance to see greatness on both ends and I wasn't that bad myself.
TPG: He got hurt three games into that season.
GERVIN: Broken foot.
TPG: How did he look at you? Did he study you every night?
GERVIN: No, we weren't that close. Mike's different. He did what he wanted to do. He didn't need no help. I know he had to learn something from me because I wasn't no slouch. I could play and I could play for a long time, whether he said it or not. You're sitting there and you're looking at greatness. You're gonna have to see something. I ain't saying he emulated me, but I could flat out put the ball in the hole. I ain't saying he did learn something from me. You'd have to ask him. I ain't taking no credit for his success. He's definitely one of the best to ever do it. Everybody says he's the greatest of all time, but I'm not convinced. What criteria are you using to say that? It's easy to say that on ESPN. Stephen A. Smith: "Greatest of all time." What do you mean? He got more championships than Bill Russell? He's got more points than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar? What criteria are you using? He's one of the greatest entertainers? Hell yeah. But what about Magic Johnson? Magic Johnson's one of the greatest entertainers of all time. And winners. I'm not taking nothing from no one. But a lot of times today, people just throw out greatest of all time. To be the greatest of all time, you got to be really really special, man. He is. But we had some special guys before him too. This is from a ballplayer. I'm not just a guy coming in from the street or who played college ball or a guy who just wears his shoes. I do wear his shoes. I got a closet full of Mike's shoes. They're a conversation piece and they're comfortable. And I play in his golf shoes. I'm a Michael Jordan fan. Bar none. Whether he knows it or not, I'm a Michael Jordan fan. I'm just proud of how he was able to manipulate this system to be where he is today. That's kind of like how I feel about that.
TPG: So to round all that up, if someone asked you who the greatest player of all time is, who would you say?
GERVIN: I'd say, hey now, what criteria are using? That's the only thing I can say. He's one of the greatest entertainers, one of the greatest winners, he could flat out play, his stats proved themselves, but he couldn't score like Ice. He had his own way of scoring. He didn't score like me. I didn't score as many points as he did, but I didn't shoot as much as he did. Mike and Kobe shot more times than anyone in the history of basketball. So that means they missed a lot. He shot 50 percent though (49.7 percent, technically). That kind of makes up for it. At guard. That makes a guy special.
TPG: What if you shot more?
GERVIN: I wouldn't. That wasn't my game. My game, I could shoot whenever I wanted to, so I didn't shoot any bad shots. We're different. I didn't think I had the same drive as him. He had a drive. I ain't talking about driving to the basket. He had a drive that could take you over. I wouldn't get caught up into it like that.
TPG: Did you notice that at your first practice with him?
GERVIN: Hell yeah. The son of a bytch is crazy. He played just as hard at practice as he did in the game. I'll never forget it, I'm at practice with him one time, I'm lackadaisical going through it and stuff. I say, "Dang, young fella." He said, "Hey, old man, go sit down over there." I sat down. I was done. He helped me understand I was done. You've only got so long to be on top. I was on top for about 12 years. You only have your turn. My turn was pretty much up. I retired after that.
TPG: Did you think about coming back with the Bulls?
GERVIN: Hell no. I ain't think about playing no one. I went overseas. One game a week, 5 p.m. on Sundays, 30 games in 30 weeks. I loved it. Got a nice check, lived in Italy. Went over there 190, came back 240. Food was good, kid was in school, wife was happy. Come on, man. I had my turn. You only have your turn. When you understand it, you walk away from it. Tim Duncan had his turn, walked away. Everybody can't walk. Mike couldn't walk away from it. That's something to say about that drive. He just couldn't stop.
TPG: But he walked away two times ...
GERVIN: But one time he had to walk, so there ain't no walking away (laughs). Hold up for a minute. Kobe, to be half yourself, as great as you were, that's what I'm talking about with that drive. See, it's still part of the game. When that drive becomes part of life, that's what you've got to worry about.
TPG: I'd be remiss not to ask. You said [Jordan] was forced out one time ...
GERVIN: Well, I don't know how. I don’t know enough about it. But he went and played baseball. Why? I don't know. But he wasn't a really good baseball player. But he was a great basketball player.
TPG: When you left the Bulls, you think he was happy?
GERVIN: That I was gone? Hell yeah. I didn't belong there. I should have never went. I knew it. They got a shell of me down there. I had some great games. I still averaged about 16. Shot about 87 percent from the free throw line. I could still play. But I was half a man. I'm being honest. It was at the end. Being at the end, it was how you accept it. None of us can last forever. Some of us try. Some of us just hate to give it up. Some of the greats.
TPG: You think Kobe had trouble walking away?
GERVIN: Hell yeah. Then he gets 60 the last game. But think about this. Those guys were going, "Phew, done with him." He's one of the greatest of all time, but his drive, man, it still comes down to his drive as a human being. It can affect you.
In 1985, Gervin played in his final All-Star Game in Indianapolis. His 23 points were the second-highest total for the Western Conference, which won the game, but most fans remember that night for the alleged Eastern Conference "freeze-out" of Michael Jordan, organized by Isiah Thomas. Gervin spent much of the game guarding Jordan and he thought Jordan got the ball a fair amount.
TPG: You were in the '85 freeze-out game.
GERVIN: That's what they say? With Michael? But I was guarding Michael.
TPG: 'Cause you were in the West by then (the Spurs moved to the Western Conference in 1980-81).
GERVIN: I'm glad you said that. 'Cause I went to Chicago that next year. I had a room full of media like, "We heard about that game last year with Isiah." I said, "What?" "Y'all was freezing Michael out." I said, "How could I freeze him out when I was guarding him?"
I was trying to wear him out. He was a rookie. We were in the locker room. I'll never forget, before the game. All the press came in front of me and they said, "How's it gonna be playing against Michael?" I said, "You talking to the wrong guy." I said, "You better go over and ask Mike how it's gonna be playing against Ice." They got up and went over and told Mike. I meant it from my heart. You kidding me, man? You talking to Ice. You better go over there and ask that rookie how it's like playing against Ice. I like having fun with media.
I think I could have got MVP that game. Pat Riley took me out. Pat Riley did me like that twice. I hope Pat hears it too. You dogged me twice.
TPG: You ever say that to him.
GERVIN: Every time I see him. You know you dogged me man. No hard feelings, but you did dog me. In another All-Star Game, he was the coach. He didn't play me and I was going off and he sat me down the whole fourth quarter. We played the Lakers in LA the next game. He talks about that. I probably had like 40 on him. I was mad at him. Take that, Pat. Ice is probably mad at me. You know why. Everybody's got their favorites, man.
TPG: In that 1985 game, while you were guarding him, did you feel Jordan didn't get the ball that much?
GERVIN: I thought he got it quite a bit. The kind of player he is, he commands the ball, not demands it. Just the way he plays. He was just a rookie. They ain't laying out no red carpet for him. He's got to earn his way. That's how we felt, the veterans. He was getting a lot of props then. We were saying wait a minute, this is the All-Star Game. You got to earn your way. I had 23.
TPG: Was he guarding you?
GERVIN: Sometimes, and I was guarding him. See, Mike back then ... I'm a student of the game ... Mike couldn't go left. I'd just get on the right side and make him go that way. He was dominant right. Until he made that adjustment in the career, he didn't take off. Once he made that adjustment he could go both ways and get by you, lights out. That's what he did when I joined him. I think he wanted to kill me (Jordan had seven points in that All-Star Game).
He was unbelievable, man.
By: Jeff Eisenband
1/11/2017
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George Gervin was on the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team (1996) and the ABA's All-Time Team, and his No. 44 is retired by the San Antonio Spurs. In 14 NBA and ABA seasons, he averaged 25.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists, made nine All-Star teams, was named to five All-NBA First Teams and claimed four NBA scoring titles. The Iceman also enjoyed interacting with the media during his career -- and still does. I was the final reporter to speak with Gervin in a day that the 64-year-old did roughly six hours of interviews, and he was more than ready to riff for another good 30 minutes. Hanging in the NBA's New York office, where Gervin was promoting NBA All-Star Game voting, we discussed his one year playing with Michael Jordan, Bill Russell's role in the ABA-NBA merger, Tim Duncan's fashion, his beef with Pat Riley and why every NBA star should create a foundation.
Gervin played his final NBA season in 1985-86 with the Chicago Bulls. Jordan, in his second NBA season, missed 64 games with a broken foot, but still had an impact on "The Iceman."
After 12-time (nine in the NBA, three in the ABA) all-star George "Iceman" Gervin was traded to the Chicago Bulls prior to the 1985-86 season, Michael Jordan said "I have no comment on the trade. Just say I am unhappy."
It turns out, Jordan was disrespectful to him all season. Comparing his first seasons playing with Julius Erving for the Virginia Squires of the ABA to his final season with the Bulls, Gervin told Bill Simmons on the B.S. Report:
"Doc probably appreciated me a lot more than Michael, because I was old and on my way out and Michael was coming in and was really trying to show his presence. He probably looked at me a little different. He used to always call me... 'hey old man.' I said 'you gon get there, hopefully.'"
ThePostGame: When you went to Chicago for that one year with Jordan -- his second year -- did you think you might be a piece Jordan and the Bulls needed to compete for a title?
GEORGE GERVIN: No. He was too young. He was just finding himself. Then he got hurt and I took his spot, so I gave him a chance to show him some history. He was just enjoying it in his own way. I remember I had 35 at Dallas and I ended up with 45. He came up to me and said, "What happened old man, you get tired?" I'll never forget that. I said, "Young fella, I was just showing you how I used to be." Think about it, I started my career with Dr. J and finished with Mike. I got a chance to see greatness on both ends and I wasn't that bad myself.
TPG: He got hurt three games into that season.
GERVIN: Broken foot.
TPG: How did he look at you? Did he study you every night?
GERVIN: No, we weren't that close. Mike's different. He did what he wanted to do. He didn't need no help. I know he had to learn something from me because I wasn't no slouch. I could play and I could play for a long time, whether he said it or not. You're sitting there and you're looking at greatness. You're gonna have to see something. I ain't saying he emulated me, but I could flat out put the ball in the hole. I ain't saying he did learn something from me. You'd have to ask him. I ain't taking no credit for his success. He's definitely one of the best to ever do it. Everybody says he's the greatest of all time, but I'm not convinced. What criteria are you using to say that? It's easy to say that on ESPN. Stephen A. Smith: "Greatest of all time." What do you mean? He got more championships than Bill Russell? He's got more points than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar? What criteria are you using? He's one of the greatest entertainers? Hell yeah. But what about Magic Johnson? Magic Johnson's one of the greatest entertainers of all time. And winners. I'm not taking nothing from no one. But a lot of times today, people just throw out greatest of all time. To be the greatest of all time, you got to be really really special, man. He is. But we had some special guys before him too. This is from a ballplayer. I'm not just a guy coming in from the street or who played college ball or a guy who just wears his shoes. I do wear his shoes. I got a closet full of Mike's shoes. They're a conversation piece and they're comfortable. And I play in his golf shoes. I'm a Michael Jordan fan. Bar none. Whether he knows it or not, I'm a Michael Jordan fan. I'm just proud of how he was able to manipulate this system to be where he is today. That's kind of like how I feel about that.
TPG: So to round all that up, if someone asked you who the greatest player of all time is, who would you say?
GERVIN: I'd say, hey now, what criteria are using? That's the only thing I can say. He's one of the greatest entertainers, one of the greatest winners, he could flat out play, his stats proved themselves, but he couldn't score like Ice. He had his own way of scoring. He didn't score like me. I didn't score as many points as he did, but I didn't shoot as much as he did. Mike and Kobe shot more times than anyone in the history of basketball. So that means they missed a lot. He shot 50 percent though (49.7 percent, technically). That kind of makes up for it. At guard. That makes a guy special.
TPG: What if you shot more?
GERVIN: I wouldn't. That wasn't my game. My game, I could shoot whenever I wanted to, so I didn't shoot any bad shots. We're different. I didn't think I had the same drive as him. He had a drive. I ain't talking about driving to the basket. He had a drive that could take you over. I wouldn't get caught up into it like that.
TPG: Did you notice that at your first practice with him?
GERVIN: Hell yeah. The son of a bytch is crazy. He played just as hard at practice as he did in the game. I'll never forget it, I'm at practice with him one time, I'm lackadaisical going through it and stuff. I say, "Dang, young fella." He said, "Hey, old man, go sit down over there." I sat down. I was done. He helped me understand I was done. You've only got so long to be on top. I was on top for about 12 years. You only have your turn. My turn was pretty much up. I retired after that.
TPG: Did you think about coming back with the Bulls?
GERVIN: Hell no. I ain't think about playing no one. I went overseas. One game a week, 5 p.m. on Sundays, 30 games in 30 weeks. I loved it. Got a nice check, lived in Italy. Went over there 190, came back 240. Food was good, kid was in school, wife was happy. Come on, man. I had my turn. You only have your turn. When you understand it, you walk away from it. Tim Duncan had his turn, walked away. Everybody can't walk. Mike couldn't walk away from it. That's something to say about that drive. He just couldn't stop.
TPG: But he walked away two times ...
GERVIN: But one time he had to walk, so there ain't no walking away (laughs). Hold up for a minute. Kobe, to be half yourself, as great as you were, that's what I'm talking about with that drive. See, it's still part of the game. When that drive becomes part of life, that's what you've got to worry about.
TPG: I'd be remiss not to ask. You said [Jordan] was forced out one time ...
GERVIN: Well, I don't know how. I don’t know enough about it. But he went and played baseball. Why? I don't know. But he wasn't a really good baseball player. But he was a great basketball player.
TPG: When you left the Bulls, you think he was happy?
GERVIN: That I was gone? Hell yeah. I didn't belong there. I should have never went. I knew it. They got a shell of me down there. I had some great games. I still averaged about 16. Shot about 87 percent from the free throw line. I could still play. But I was half a man. I'm being honest. It was at the end. Being at the end, it was how you accept it. None of us can last forever. Some of us try. Some of us just hate to give it up. Some of the greats.
TPG: You think Kobe had trouble walking away?
GERVIN: Hell yeah. Then he gets 60 the last game. But think about this. Those guys were going, "Phew, done with him." He's one of the greatest of all time, but his drive, man, it still comes down to his drive as a human being. It can affect you.
In 1985, Gervin played in his final All-Star Game in Indianapolis. His 23 points were the second-highest total for the Western Conference, which won the game, but most fans remember that night for the alleged Eastern Conference "freeze-out" of Michael Jordan, organized by Isiah Thomas. Gervin spent much of the game guarding Jordan and he thought Jordan got the ball a fair amount.
TPG: You were in the '85 freeze-out game.
GERVIN: That's what they say? With Michael? But I was guarding Michael.
TPG: 'Cause you were in the West by then (the Spurs moved to the Western Conference in 1980-81).
GERVIN: I'm glad you said that. 'Cause I went to Chicago that next year. I had a room full of media like, "We heard about that game last year with Isiah." I said, "What?" "Y'all was freezing Michael out." I said, "How could I freeze him out when I was guarding him?"
I was trying to wear him out. He was a rookie. We were in the locker room. I'll never forget, before the game. All the press came in front of me and they said, "How's it gonna be playing against Michael?" I said, "You talking to the wrong guy." I said, "You better go over and ask Mike how it's gonna be playing against Ice." They got up and went over and told Mike. I meant it from my heart. You kidding me, man? You talking to Ice. You better go over there and ask that rookie how it's like playing against Ice. I like having fun with media.
I think I could have got MVP that game. Pat Riley took me out. Pat Riley did me like that twice. I hope Pat hears it too. You dogged me twice.
TPG: You ever say that to him.
GERVIN: Every time I see him. You know you dogged me man. No hard feelings, but you did dog me. In another All-Star Game, he was the coach. He didn't play me and I was going off and he sat me down the whole fourth quarter. We played the Lakers in LA the next game. He talks about that. I probably had like 40 on him. I was mad at him. Take that, Pat. Ice is probably mad at me. You know why. Everybody's got their favorites, man.
TPG: In that 1985 game, while you were guarding him, did you feel Jordan didn't get the ball that much?
GERVIN: I thought he got it quite a bit. The kind of player he is, he commands the ball, not demands it. Just the way he plays. He was just a rookie. They ain't laying out no red carpet for him. He's got to earn his way. That's how we felt, the veterans. He was getting a lot of props then. We were saying wait a minute, this is the All-Star Game. You got to earn your way. I had 23.
TPG: Was he guarding you?
GERVIN: Sometimes, and I was guarding him. See, Mike back then ... I'm a student of the game ... Mike couldn't go left. I'd just get on the right side and make him go that way. He was dominant right. Until he made that adjustment in the career, he didn't take off. Once he made that adjustment he could go both ways and get by you, lights out. That's what he did when I joined him. I think he wanted to kill me (Jordan had seven points in that All-Star Game).
He was unbelievable, man.
to a San Antonio legend
