Artis was the most underrated player of all time. And a very fine person. I had the occasion to meet and have lunch with him in the 1990s. Terrific guy.
Artis was one of the top ten centers to ever play in the NBA. He had a serious knee injury in 1979 that took away al lot of his mobility.. If the knee injury had not happened and he had been on better teams, he might have been even more dominant. He played Kareem as tough as Wilt did.
I saw Artis play many times at Freedom Hall in Louisville with the Colonels of the ABA. From about 1972 through 1976, the ABA was just as good a league as the NBA. And Artis was the best center in either league.
@@brianarbenz1329 Agree with you. I remember him playing at the Hemisphere Arena downtown San Antonio, as a visiting team playing for Kentucky Colonels of the ABA . I remember him shaking hands and hugging Spurs Iceman George Gervin and captain of Spurs J. Silas then.
Ralph Sampson seemed shorter than his listed height of 7’4”. There are multiple photos of him standing with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the 7’2” Kareem seems as tall or taller than Ralph. The photos in question were taken when both men were wearing suits.
Some centers had more mobility, better shooting touches, but none dominated Artis. When he got inside position, it was two points for The A-Train. Artis just never got the media attention and the talent around him to get the accolades that his career deserved. This man should've had at least 3 championship rings.
I always thought of Gilmore as just a knock-off version of Kareem but I learned he was a dominant player in his own right. Someone made a great tribute video for Gilmore: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-M5EUU9UZWCc.htmlsi=N-0o5Y84QCvlUK2J
If Ralph Sampson had not been overhyped in high school and just allowed to find his own level, he could have developed into a fine player. But all the broadcasters saying he would be another Wilt really hurt Ralph’s progress.
It is almost painful to watch. Some awful misses. The game truly evolved enormously. I say this with the utmost respect to da old fellas. They paved the way. But here are some awful missed the rim is being destroyed.
You need to look at more tape. His injury in 1986/87 put his development to an end, but Sampson and Olajuwon were awesome together. See 1986 WCF against Lakers...
