The Sam Jones Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Thursday, October 11th,
2007
The bank shot was your calling card, as deadly a weapon as Kareem’s sky hook,
but you don’t see players shooting it as much today? What has happened to the
bank shot?
It
hasn’t really gone anywhere, I just don’t think that it’s being taught like it
used to be taught. I think the three-point shot has
something to do with that,
because it really has hurt the intermediate jumper. Coaches today are stressing
the three pointer, kids see it on television, and as a result the midrange
jumper has been lost. I think that’s a mistake.
One of the greatest teachers of the bank shot was John Wooden at UCLA. Most of his kids had that shot. Tim Duncan is still shooting the bank shot, and he’s going to go down as one of the greatest players in the history of the NBA. He shoots it with pretty good accuracy, and I think he prefers that midrange bank shot over a flashy slam dunk. In that respect he’s a throwback of sorts. Scottie Pippen used that shot quite a bit as well. But those guys are the exceptions to the rule. I just think the bank shot is one of the most effective shots you could use on the court, within a certain range.
In tight game situations you were known to stay away from the huddles during
timeouts, and yet you retired as one of the greatest clutch shooters in NBA
history. Did you demand the basketball in those situations, as so many
players seem to do today, or did the impetus to take the big shot come from
your teammates?
No,
I didn’t demand the basketball. The impetus came from Red Auerbach. He
took all the pressure off of the players – in those tight games where you
needed that one shot, he would call timeout, pull us all together and call
the play for me. As we’re coming off the court he’d say, ‘We’re running the
two play for Sam Jones’, or ‘We’re going to run the four play for Sam
Jones.’ I had quite a few plays designed for me to get a shot off. I knew
when we ran those plays that we were going to have an open shot. It wasn’t’
that I’d stay away from the huddle, but the play had already been called. I
was just waiting for the gong to be sounded so that we could go back out on
the court [laughs].
Let’s talk about the “Bill Russell & His Legendary Friends Adult Basketball
Camp”. How did this idea get started, and what part of the camp are you
most looking forward to?
Question
mark? No, you’d better make that an exclamation point [laughs]! Let’s put
it that way [laughs]. It got started because of Bill Russell. He’s the
main guy. I receive this call from Bill and he’s going to have Magic
Johnson, John Havlicek, Jerry West, Charles Barkley, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,
Larry Bird, maybe Elgin Baylor…and I’m looking at all of these names , and
I’m saying to myself, ‘My gosh; he’s going to invite me to this event with
all of these guys?’ I’m coming as a friend, he invited me as a friend, and
I know that people who go to fantasy camps will never get a collection of
players together like this in one place again. Clyde Drexler. Everyone
that I’ve named is in the Hall of Fame. There also among the NBA’s 50
Greatest Players. Ann Myers, one of the greatest basketball players of
all-time – men or women – is going to be there. And I’m just saying to
myself, ‘My gosh – I’m just glad to be a part of this.’ So what I did is
unbelievable – I went directly to the gym [laughs]. I have been training
for the last two months. My legs are in better shape. I have been riding a
bike for ten miles a day, five days a week. I started working out with my
arms. I feel really good – it’s given me an excuse to get back into shape,
and I feel better than I have in years. But don’t misunderstand; I’m coming
to teach at this camp – there won’t be any dunking [laughs].
I don’t think you’ll want Danny Ainge finding out about your new workout
regimen – he recently tried to lure Reggie Miller out of retirement.
Yes,
but Reggie is at least forty – and I’m close to double that. I’m
seventy-four! I think Danny Ainge is smarter than that [laughs]. But
seriously, I feel great and I’m looking forward to working with everyone at
this camp.
