 Welcome back to Yes, We're Here. It is Jimmy Spinarkel Day here on Yes, Jimmy. Always amazing to see you. We are going back to 1979 80 year rookie year in the NBA. What do you remember most about adjusting to the showtime? Well, it's good to see you too, Nancy. And what I remember about that rookie year was first of all, I think it was a long time ago. So my, you know, I have to think hard about how long ago it was, but it was a great experience in a couple of ways. You know, I finished the Duke in 79 and 79 80 year that drafted by the 76ers and that team had some decent names on it at that particular point. You know, the guy named Julia Serving, they had Darryl Dawkins, Bobby Jones, Doug Collins is on the team, Mocheeks, Lionel Holland. You know, Steve Witt and Steve Mix and also Caldwell Jones. So I think it was about eight out of eleven guys on that team at one point or another. We're all all stars in the NBA. So I kind of got to the rookie camp and like was like looking for autographs almost because I had watched them play and it was kind of like a little bit overwhelming in terms of the first experience in the NBA. But an interesting first year, sure. So what was that adjustment like playing amongst these guys and with them? Well, I think there are a couple of adjustments that any college kid goes through when they sign with an NBA team. You know, number one is generally speaking, and in my case I was starting with the, with Duke I was playing at just about as, you know, 80 90% of the minutes that I played in my four year career. And then all of a sudden I could shift it to 76ers did not play really well my rookie year and ended up sitting the bench a lot. So that was an adjustment for sure. You know, the speed of the game I think was probably the first thing when you think about it on the court itself. The game was so much faster in college. We were able to play zones and we did do that at Duke where we play a kind of a match up zone. And then going into the NBA you recognize that hey I can't bury myself in his own anymore I got to play man to man and I realized how fast a lot of the guards were trying to defend them as they went by and I was just like calling for help all the time. Really had spinning the big names you had to play with. Did you find any commonality between these guys what made them great. Yeah, I just think overall I think, and I think that the real good players in the NBA or any sport have really short memories especially when things are going badly. You know guys don't dwell on the negative they don't dwell on miss shots. You know if Dr J was over five to begin a game which you probably really didn't happen that often. You didn't sit around and say what if I go over seven what if I go over 10 his next thought was I'm going to be one for one and you know I'll be one for six but I'm going to make my next shot so I think it's a little bit of that that the guys have so much confidence sometimes guys have just so much confidence you like shaping your head at it but that's how you survive and the really good ones survive that way with the short memory and then real strong confidence in what they can do as a player with their talents. So what was the self talk like for you during that first season. Self talk was kind of what what did I get myself into here you know the opportunities trying to trying to get some playing time and then and what happens when you're not playing a whole lot. And I think most you know most people would say this at any level of any sport if you're not really playing a whole lot it's hard to build up consistency of play. And I understood it my rookie year because we had a you know an all star team that I was trying to get a play and I wasn't playing really well lack of confidence to some degree. But what happens is that if you get into a game there's a tendency to try to do too much because you want to impress you know the coaching staff the organization you get an opportunity to play and generally speaking that will backfire more times and not because in my case I was only going in for maybe three to five minutes and you know this just not you know if you gave Dr J three to five minutes a night in a game. He's not going to score 25 points again because it's limited time but the pressure was on I think a lot of role players a guy's getting chances second chances off the bench. I think a lot of times you'll see players press a little bit more than they probably should and I think it's natural and understandable at the same time. As that season played on and played out did you know you were part of a team that was going to make a real run. Yeah clearly clearly with the talent on that team you knew that there was you know obviously playoffs and a good run getting to the NBA finals that year but you know with with the team that we had and the the abilities and it was really you know like we had Mo Chieffes was a great point for you Dr J was one of the best obviously forwards in the league Darrell Dawkins and Colwell Jones as the centers. So clearly you knew there was going to be battles with the top ranking teams you know whether it be the Knicks at that point but really the Celtics in the east. And then we made it all the way to the finals and it's a memorable final going back. You know we lost in the sixth game in the spectrum down in Philadelphia to the Lakers and that was the game the sixth game that Karim Abdul-Jabbar did not play and everybody thought okay Lakers in the Sixers in the sixth game they were leading by one game will will win this home game without Karim Abdul-Jabbar who was actually back in L.A. And that's when Magic Johnson started the center position and scored 42 points so Magic stepped up and we didn't step up and the rest is history they would say. But prior to that there was some sensational moments like the Eastern Conference championship you defeated the Celtics and they were no slouch either the Larry Bird was on that team. Yeah no they were they were great battles and it was great to you know to be part of them, even from a limited perspective that I had but watching those battles with the Celtics being as great as they were and then you had a Classic matchup with Larry Bird and Dr. J. I mean, you know I didn't have to pay for my seat on the bench but I probably would have paid for a seat on the bench every night just to watch those team go at it. It was it was a lot of fun and a great experience. What was that celebration like. You know wasn't that biggest celebration if I recall because we knew what was ahead you know everybody realize okay this is just one last step before the finals so the celebration was it was great everybody knew we were moving on but really it was more of a Okay let's get this over with but celebrate a little bit let's get the preparation going for the the next round in the finals. What were your takeaways of Larry Bird and Pete Marovitch. My takeaways with bird was. As much as we know what a great player bird was over the period of time that he played. I think one of the things that I take away from him after after all those simple things right the way he played the talent the passing shooting. He just thought of bird as a great. Big game rebounder and if you go back to games that were very important to the Celtics bird generally came up with like 15 or 17 rebounds so that was the number one thing that. You know it's down on the list in terms of his talents he's not really thought of as a great rebounder or remembered I should say as a great rebounder even though he was. I think of him as a scorer most people would think of him as a great passer but I thought he was terrific big game rebounder. Is he on the NBA's Mount Rushmore for you. Yeah, yeah you have to put him up there he's I just like the way he did the things that I just mentioned but also he made players. Much better on the floor and I think an example of that might be Robert Parrish Parrish was not a great player when he was out with the Warriors. He was very very good but then when he steps on the court with Larry bird. I think Larry bird would take a guy who was on a one to 10 scale if you're seven Larry birds going to get into the eight eight and a half level of rating just because of who Larry bird is in the way he played the game. I want to find a word from you on that Lakers series and really that was the birth of the showtime Lakers right and your first impressions of magic. Yeah, you know magic I have a chance to see from my five years in the NBA and Washington prior to that college and tried to guard them a few times. Although I did have 28 points against the Lakers one night Nancy so I remember that night. But guard but guarding magic was was really interesting from the perspective of. You know, everybody knows he was 68 to 69 probably 69 that people probably didn't realize earlier in his career wasn't you know wasn't a great shooter develop that over a period of time, but he was so long and strong. And so and he could look over people and he was quick with his hands so you didn't know where the ball was you know when he was handling it obviously the name magic was pretty well done with him because it wasn't so much always his sleight of hand which was very good and the trick passes. But just his fundamentals were so good because of the size of strength, his hand size and his ability to control the ball he could make every single pass that you could imagine so. I mean it was just a treat watching him and bird and some of the players, you know for the Lakers you know like, like Korean for example. Wow, special times. Yeah, good to see you Jimmy and before we let to go kudos to your wife and your daughter they did a nice job with the shears my haircut. Thank you they actually it was a triple team my wife Janet daughters Stephanie and Bridget took the shears to me I still think I'm still bleeding a little bit in the back because they were digging in with the shears but overall we came out of it and I didn't really have to tip them all out much either Nancy to so that wasn't bad. I guess they were sending a little subliminal message next time though I want video. Okay, I'll get you the video and I'll get the I'll let their mullet grow out again we'll see what happens. Great stuff. Thank you Jimmy all the best of a family stay safe good to see you. Thanks Nancy same to you stay healthy and well.