As a ballplayer from my teens through college Jerry was one of the guys I really admired. His heroic efforts vs the Celtics and all the close losses in the championships just made me respect him even more. You could tell what a huge relief it was for him when they finally won a title in 1972. Besides being a great offensive player he was on the all-defensive team almost every year.
The first time we played the Lakers in LA my rookie year Richie put me in the game at forward to guard Jim McMillan. I usually played guard, but Jim was 6'5 so it wasn't that bad a matchup. I entered the game while someone was shooting fts. As I walked past Jerry he patted me on the tail and said "welcome to the league rook". It is still one of the most memorable moments in my life. Later in that game Wilt almost killed me, which is another story. A couple years later when I was out of the league a women, who was a friend of my girlfriend at the time and who worked at the hotel where the Lakers stayed, mentioned to Jerry that a girlfriend of hers boyfriend had played for the Hawks. Jerry asked who it was and when she told him he said "please tell him I saId hello" . For the next couple years while she worked there he always asked how I was doing.
Flash forward to 1989 and I'm doing color on the UGA games. We're playing in a Xmas tourney at Arizona State. I noticed Jerry was at the game scouting for the Lakers. During a timeout I walked over and asked if he'd be by halftime guest. he said great. The first thing I said after introducing him was "Jerry, when Richie Guerin put me in the game once to guard you I didn't know whether to stick my hand in your face, or ask you for your autograph". He laughed and said something about my defense maybe. I didn't hear it cause the producer was in my ear.
RIP my friend.
The first time we played the Lakers in LA my rookie year Richie put me in the game at forward to guard Jim McMillan. I usually played guard, but Jim was 6'5 so it wasn't that bad a matchup. I entered the game while someone was shooting fts. As I walked past Jerry he patted me on the tail and said "welcome to the league rook". It is still one of the most memorable moments in my life. Later in that game Wilt almost killed me, which is another story. A couple years later when I was out of the league a women, who was a friend of my girlfriend at the time and who worked at the hotel where the Lakers stayed, mentioned to Jerry that a girlfriend of hers boyfriend had played for the Hawks. Jerry asked who it was and when she told him he said "please tell him I saId hello" . For the next couple years while she worked there he always asked how I was doing.
Flash forward to 1989 and I'm doing color on the UGA games. We're playing in a Xmas tourney at Arizona State. I noticed Jerry was at the game scouting for the Lakers. During a timeout I walked over and asked if he'd be by halftime guest. he said great. The first thing I said after introducing him was "Jerry, when Richie Guerin put me in the game once to guard you I didn't know whether to stick my hand in your face, or ask you for your autograph". He laughed and said something about my defense maybe. I didn't hear it cause the producer was in my ear.
RIP my friend.
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