The Ed Pinckney Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Monday, April 5th, 2004
How did it feel to be honored as the Final Four’s most
outstanding player, and where does this accomplishment
rank in terms of your overall basketball experience?
It’s pretty high up there. When you think of all the
schools competing just to get in the tournament, and
then to help get your team through it with the win and
to be called MVP in the process – that was a great
accomplishment, and one of the highest honors I’ve ever
received. But to me, being selected in the first round
of the NBA Draft ranks higher in terms of personal
achievements. It’s a statement that, on that date, I
was worthy of being a top 10 selection. To me that’s
the highest compliment I could have ever received.
Ewing was Ewing, but I’ve always thought of Michael
Graham as one of John Thompson’s most physical and
intimidating players. What was it like playing against
him?
I don’t think there was a tougher forward at the college
level in terms of intensity and raw talent. You never
felt you were going to have an easy time when you played
against Michael Graham. If all I had to do was score
against him my job would have been very difficult, but
then I had to turn around and try to stop him on the
defensive end of the floor. He was a brutal assignment.
The 1985 NBA Draft was the first to feature the Draft
Lottery, and was also one of the deepest ever. In
addition to yourself and fellow Big East nemesis Patrick
Ewing, the ’85 draft included such talent as Karl
Malone, Chris Mullin, Joe Dumars, A.C. Green, Charles
Oakley and Arvydas Sabonis. Did you have any idea that
Phoenix would take you with the 10th pick
overall?
There was some talk about it in the press, but I didn’t
speak to the Suns directly in terms of me being drafted
by them. I was happy to go there – Jim McCloud was the
head coach at the time, and he was very well-respected
around the NBA. Alvin Adams was still playing. He
showed me what it was like to be a professional, and he
was an invaluable source of basketball wisdom. I also
had the opportunity to be Larry Nance’s understudy,
which was a great, great experience. Larry taught me
the importance of taking care of my body. He preached
conditioning from my first day of training camp. It was
a blessing to be associated with these guys, and I
attribute my NBA success to the great base that I was
able to establish in Phoenix. The things I learned then
were especially valuable later in my career. By knowing
how to play the game and how to take care of my body, I
was able to play 12 seasons in the NBA, and there aren’t
many people who can say that.
The 1986 NBA Draft was the antithesis of your draft
class – some even call it cursed. One reason for this
was the death of Maryland star Len Bias, who died from a
cocaine overdose two days after being selected by the
Boston Celtics. Where were you when you heard the news
of Bias’ death?
I was back home in New York City. I just remember being
shocked. It was so surreal, because I knew Len Bias and
we’d just played against each other twice – once in Cole
Fieldhouse, and then again in the NCAA tournament. The
first game Bias was unstoppable. He scored 30 points on
us, tearing us up on the blocks. We won the rematch,
which put us into the Elite Eight during our run to the
championship. It was a lower scoring game than the
first one, 46-43, and a big reason we won was because we
were able to contain Bias. That was the key. His death
was like the Kennedy assassination – you’ll always
remember where you were and what you were doing when you
heard about it. It took awhile for the shock to wear
off, and then I remember feeling a deep sense of
disappointment. Bias was going to be a superstar. To
have a tragedy like that happen, you just didn’t want to
believe it.
After playing against him, how good do you think Bias
would have been had he lived?
There was no question – Bias was going to be great. He
was a 6’-8” athlete who could do everything on the
court. He could run, jump, dunk, defend…he had a great
shooting touch from the outside, and he was so strong
underneath the basket. In my mind he would have been an
All-Star many times over, and could quite possibly still
be playing today. With Bias joining Larry Bird, Kevin
McHale and Robert Parish, the Celtics were poised to win
several more championships. It’s hard to tell how many
banners would be hanging from the rafters had he lived.
