December 4, 1992 - Considered at the time by many to be the most talented player to come out of New York since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lloyd "Swee' Pea" Daniels was a mid-80's phenomenon. However, his arrival in the NBA would be delayed for years on account of his fight to break away from a destructive street life.
Daniels was originally in line to star for Jerry Tarkanian's UNLV Runnin' Rebels in 1987 before being arrested at a crack house in Las Vegas purchasing product from an undercover officer. Two years later, he was shot three times in Queens in a drug-related confrontation, leaving one bullet lodged in his right shoulder.
After being annointed head coach of the San Antonio Spurs in 1992, Tarkanian provided Daniels with his first real shot in the league, bringing him on as the team's point guard at the start of the 1992-93 season. The team's star, David Robinson, had his reservations but quickly warmed to Daniels as the season progressed.
"Approval, understanding, affection," said Robinson at the time. "Lloyd, you could see, was in need of a friend. You could see a guy who had done some bad things with his life, but it was somehow hard to imagine him in that environment. You expected meanness, and there was none."
Point guard Avery Johnson was similarly skeptical before Daniels won him over, too.
“He didn’t have a great body,” Johnson said. “He wasn’t chiseled like Terry Cummings. He wasn’t dunking like Dominique [Wilkins] or Michael Jordan. I’m thinking, ‘What’s the big fuss about?’ Once we got into the scrimmaging part of practice, Lloyd would put on a show, and I would just go back to my room and say, ‘Wow! This guy can flat out play!’”
Daniels averaged over 15 points per game under Tarkanian. However, Tarkanian was dismissed just 20 games into the season and Daniels' role became erratic under new coach John Lucas. Daniels' first 20 games of his career may have served as the most consistent stretch of opportunity he'd ever see in the league.
Against the Nets, in the clip above, Daniels took advantage of a defensive shortcoming recognized by teammate Vinny Del Negro. During the broadcast, Spurs play-by-play man Dave Barnett made note that Del Negro intended to isolate Nets sharpshooter Dražen Petrović defensively, which can be seen in multiple instances when Del Negro caught Petrović with his back turned in the paint, resulting in numerous carefree backdoor baskets for Daniels.
Petrović, however, took care of business on the other end, scoring 34 points in a 108-103 comeback overtime victory.
Box Score: www.basketball...
New York Times Daniels feature alluded to during broadcast: www.nytimes.co...
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