RIP Bob Lanier NBA

[CowgirlsFan]

Thank you for the memories at St. Bonaventure and in the NBA.

[BuffaloBud]

Man - this is sad to hear.  First athlete that I "connected" with.  As a kid, I remember seeing his dad driving a truck with "Buffalo Bob Lanier" painted on the side and listening to the Final 4 games via radio.

 

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/33895398/nba-great-bob-lanier-hall-fame-center-detroit-pistons-milwaukee-bucks-dies-73

Edited May 11, 2022 by BuffaloBud

[SoTier]

RIP, Bob.  I was a senior in HS when the Bonnies (they were the Brown Indians back then) went to the Final Four.  It made me a college basketball fan for life, especially the NCAA Tournament.

[BobbyC81]

I started following sports in 1970 and experienced Bob Lanier and Calvin Murphy as All Americans and the Bonnies going all the way to the Semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.   Little did I know then that it was the zenith for Western New York college basketball.  Good memories.

 

Canisius recruiting Larry Fogle to transfer there a few years later gave hope, only to end up crumbling due to violations.

 

 

[Tierlifer]

 

[Marv's Neighbor]

RIP Bob!  I'm a "69 Niagara grad, and the little 3 games were something special then.

[Rico]

RIP Bob, one of the all-time Buffalo greats. I will forever hate Villanova and especially Chris Ford for taking his knee out at the tournament that one year.

[buffaloaggie]

Back when NBA teams were built around a franchise Center like Bob Lanier in the 70s and early 80s. Great era.

 

Jabbar

Chamberlain

Cowens

Gilmore

Malone

Reed

McAdoo

Unseld (and Hayes)

Walton

Parrish

Sikma

 

Magic, Bird and MJ (and the 3-point shot) really changed the game. 

 

[stuvian]

One of the games great big men. RIP

[Wacka]

I remember the press saying that if Lanier wouldn't have gotten hurt, the chances were pretty good that the Bonnies would have won the NCAA.

[Buftex]

Sad day.  My dad, who was a pretty casual sports fan, only ever really cared about St. Bonaventure, his alma-mater.  He and my uncle took my brother and I to see the Pistons against the Braves in the Braves second season.  My dad was all about Bob Lanier!  Of course, my brother and I were more interested in seeing the Braves win. Lanier had a huge game, about 30 points. But the Braves pulled it out. One of the few games they won in those early seasons. I remember being confused (I was 7) as to why so many people were cheering for the Pistons.  They loved Lanier! 

 

I am not really sure what the NBA draft rules were in 1970, but in their first season, the expansion team, Buffalo Braves, had the 15th (of 17) pick in the first round of the draft. Imagine what might have happened if they had the first pick, and could have picked Lanier.  He was the #1 pick that year, and went to the Pistons.

 

I bet the Braves would have been more warmly received in Buffalo... of course, even with the 15th pick, they passed on Niagara University's Calvin Murphy, also a future NBA Hall of Famer, who was the #18 pick. John Hummer (the first draft pick in Braves history) went on to have a pretty forgettable career, and was out of the league in six years, after playing for 3 or 4 different teams.

Edited May 11, 2022 by Buftex

[Mike in Horseheads]

Nice Tribute on TNT..

 

[Mark Vader]

 

[Rico]

1 hour ago, Buftex said:

Sad day.  My dad, who was a pretty casual sports fan, only ever really cared about St. Bonaventure, his alma-mater.  He and my uncle took my brother and I to see the Pistons against the Braves in the Braves second season.  My dad was all about Bob Lanier!  Of course, my brother and I were more interested in seeing the Braves win. Lanier had a huge game, about 30 points. But the Braves pulled it out. One of the few games they won in those early seasons. I remember being confused (I was 7) as to why so many people were cheering for the Pistons.  They loved Lanier! 

 

I am not really sure what the NBA draft rules were in 1970, but in their first season, the expansion team, Buffalo Braves, had the 15th (of 17) pick in the first round of the draft. Imagine what might have happened if they had the first pick, and could have picked Lanier.  He was the #1 pick that year, and went to the Pistons.

 

I bet the Braves would have been more warmly received in Buffalo... of course, even with the 15th pick, they passed on Niagara University's Calvin Murphy, also a future NBA Hall of Famer, who was the #18 pick. John Hummer (the first draft pick in Braves history) went on to have a pretty forgettable career, and was out of the league in six years, after playing for 3 or 4 different teams.

They traded down with the Bullets and added guard Mike Davis IIRC. Don’t remember why they weren’t at the top of the round, but the Braves & the other expansion teams (Trail Blazers & Cavaliers) drafted in the middle. As for John Hummer , he sure was no Gilbert Perreault.

[Guffalo]

4 hours ago, BobbyC81 said:

I started following sports in 1970 and experienced Bob Lanier and Calvin Murphy as All Americans and the Bonnies going all the way to the Semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.   Little did I know then that it was the zenith for Western New York college basketball.  Good memories.

 

Canisius recruiting Larry Fogle to transfer there a few years later gave hope, only to end up crumbling due to violations.

 

 

I remember Calvin Murphy and Big Bob going at it at those little three games. My dad was doing photography for NU since he had graduated there about 10 years prior. He would drag me along and I sat on the sidelines with the camera bag while watching these guys.

RIP Big Bob

[dhg]

RIP Mr Lanier

[Buftex]

1 hour ago, Rico said:

They traded down with the Bullets and added guard Mike Davis IIRC. Don’t remember why they weren’t at the top of the round, but the Braves & the other expansion teams (Trail Blazers & Cavaliers) drafted in the middle. As for John Hummer , he sure was no Gilbert Perreault.

But better than Richie Lucas?

[Buftex]

Learned an interesting bit of trivia today...Randy Smith was actually drafted by the Pistons in 1970 as well...but for some reason didn't go to Detroit, and opted to play another year at Buff State.  He went in the  1971 draft, where the Braves grabbed him in the 7th round, at #104.  It's all a little before my understanding of all this stuff...but was it more common for basketball prospects to get drafted after their junior year in college, way back then?  I remember when it happened in the NFL, and it didn't happen all that much, until the 90's.  Even then it was sort of controversial.

[PastaJoe]

People say my size 13 feet are big. Bob wore size 22!  I believe I saw a pair of his sneakers at the basketball hall of fame.

[Rico]

4 minutes ago, Buftex said:

Learned an interesting bit of trivia today...Randy Smith was actually drafted by the Pistons in 1970 as well...but for some reason didn't go to Detroit, and opted to play another year at Buff State.  He went in the  1971 draft, where the Braves grabbed him in the 7th round, at #104.  It's all a little before my understanding of all this stuff...but was it more common for basketball prospects to get drafted after their junior year in college, way back then?  I remember when it happened in the NFL, and it didn't happen all that much, until the 90's.  Even then it was sort of controversial.

Without doing some digging, I remember Spencer Haywood being the 1st underclassman to go into the pros (ABA) around 1972 or 1973. Before that, players would only get drafted after their senior year. I vaguely remember something about Randy Smith’s elegibility  already used up, but I’m not sure. 
 

I do think the college game was MUCH better when players stayed for 4 years.