Tag Archives: Detroit Pistons

ProHoopsHistory HOF: Bailey Howell

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A great forward, Bailey Howell wasn’t the type of player to demand glory, attention, or top status in a team’s pecking order. Sure, he wanted play a key role, but he never sought out hype or acclaim. Luckily for Howell, not much hype was coming his way during the long and winding road of his early career in the NBA.

Drafted 2nd overall by the Detroit Pistons in 1959, Howell languished on a string of mediocre clubs in Motown. The team made the playoffs four out of his five seasons there, but that was more to do with circumstances than any sterling Pistons play. They won between 23 and 37 games every year never finishing above .500.

The team was woeful but Howell was a dreaded force. From the 1960 to the 1964 season, Howell was 7th in the NBA in total points, 6th in total rebounds, and 8th in FG%. His endless motor seemingly made him a good fit for the automotive Pistons, but the club could never rise above mediocrity. So, in 1964 they traded Howell and fellow all-star Don Ohl to the Baltimore Bullets.

The move to Baltimore didn’t do Bailey’s career any wonders. Caught in a big man logjam with Walt Bellamy, Johnny Green, Gus Johnson, and Johnny “Red” Kerr, Bellamy’s career sagged for two seasons. Deliverance came with a trade to the Boston Celtics in 1966.

Finding the right spot for his style of selfless basketball, Howell blended in with Boston’s system of egalitarian offense. Over the next three years, his offense, defense, rebounding, and resounding screens helped deliver the last two of Boston’s titles in the Russell Era.

Howell’s career is the kind that reminds you that the right talent in the wrong place can be a tragic waste. He was doing the same old thing in Boston he did in Detroit and Baltimore, it’s just that the teams in those two cities were on a road to nowhere. Given purpose and direction in Boston, Howell’s career lunged to new heights and gave him a Hall of Fame pedigree.

Of course, he already had the talent in droves. When he retired in 1971, Howell was the NBA’s 9th all-time leading rebounder, 8th all-time leading scorer, and 13th in FG%. The two NBA titles were just the icing on that cake.

Seasons Played: 1960 – 1971

Accolades

NBA -
2x Champion (1968-’69)
All-NBA 2nd Team (1963)
6x All-Star (1961-’64, 1966-’67)

Statistics

NBA –  950 Games
18.7 PPG, 9.9 RPG, 2.0 APG, 48.0% FG, 76.2% FT

The Lowdown: Bailey Howell

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Years Active: 1960 – 1971
Regular Season Stats: 951 games, 32.2 mpg
18.7 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 1.9 apg, 48% FG, 76.2% FT
Postseason Stats: 86 games, 31.7 mpg
16.3 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 1.5 apg, 46.5% FG, 73.2% FT
Accolades: Hall of Fame (1997), 2x NBA Champ  (1968, ’69), 2nd Team All-NBA (1963), 6x All-Star (1961-’64, 1966-’67)

We knew Howell was a good player. He had an average of better than 20 points for seven seasons in the NBA. And he played in most of the All-Star games since he’s been in the league. Yet, sometimes you don’t realize a player’s true value until he’s on your side for a while… He’s got the good offensive drive. He’s a real holler-guy on the bench, too. Bailey likes team basketball. Joining the Celtics made him a happy player. He doesn’t care how much he scores. He just wants to win.

- Bill Russell on Bailey Howell, via Dynasty’s End (an excellent book that you should buy now!)

For 7 seasons, Bailey Howell plied his way as one of the NBA’s best forwards. He was a man possessed on the boards, particularly the offensive glass. He had an incessant, fearless zeal to attack the basket and rack up points. Five times he was selected an all-star as reward for his routine output of 20 points and 11 rebounds. Along with this individual success usually came team disappointment or outright failure.

Howell’s first 7 years were spent with the Detroit Pistons (5 seasons) and Baltimore Bullets (2). None of these teams ever finished with a record above .500. The best years for Howell’s clubs in this era were in 1962 and 1965. In ’62 the Detroit Pistons (winners of just 37 regular season games), fell into the playoffs and dislodged Oscar Robertson’s Cincinnati Royals in the semi-finals in a 3-1 series win. The Lakers of Baylor and West thereafter bounced Detroit in 6 games in the divisional finals. The ’65 “success” story with the Baltimore Bullets largely repeated this sequence of events: 37-win regular season, dislodge semi-final opponent 3-games-to-1, then lose to the Lakers in 6 games in the divisional finals.

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The Lowdown: Kevin Porter

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Years Active: 1973 – 1983
Career Stats: 659 games, 29.0 mpg
11.6 ppg, 8.1 apg, 1.8 rpg, 1.4 spg, 48.3%FG, 73.7% FT
Postseason Stats: 33 games, 29.4 mpg
11.0 ppg, 5.8 apg, 2.1 rpg, 1.1 spg, 46.3% FG, 64.9% FT
Accolades: 4x APG Leader (1975, 1978-79, 1981)

Porter dishing it off to teammate Bob Dandridge (#10) / Photo via arhenetwork.com

Kevin Porter tossed in 30 points and dished off 17 assists yesterday to pace the New Jersey Nets to a surprisingly easy, 106-95 victory over the Washington Bulles in National basketball Association action.

Via “Porter Paces Nets’ Victory” by the Associated Press

Kevin Porter was one of the purest passers the NBA has ever seen. The purity of his assists were equally matched by the chaotic turns his career took due to injury and bewildering trades. The winding path his career took conspired to obscure some of the truly masterful accomplishments of Porter. Normally, I like to narrate from start to finish a player’s career, but with Porter that’s simply not possible. Each theme must be teased and explained on its own. A simple, progressive Point A to Point B story just won’t do.

The No-Name Bullets: Disruptive to any sort of continuity is the lack of a stable name. Kevin Porter didn’t go about changing his name every day of the week, but it sure seemed the Bullets franchise was. Kevin spent five full seasons with them and they had 3 different locations: Baltimore, Capital and Washington. So, understandably, Washington Wizards fans of today may have a hard time identifying with Kevin Porter of the Capital Bullets even if he is the best pure point guard the franchise has ever had.

(Arguments for Rod Strickland can be entertained; there’s nothing pure about Gilbert Arenas)

On the move: Further obfuscating the Porter legacy is that he never stayed in one place too long. 8 full seasons and he never played for a singular location for more than 2 years. In his first three seasons, the Bullets did their Baltimore to Capital to Washington dance. Then for two seasons he was with Detroit. Then was traded to New Jersey for a year. New Jersey then traded him back to Detroit for a season. Finally Porter enjoyed free agency and returned to the Bullets. Even vagabonds don’t move around that often.

Hurt: You may have noticed that I mentioned Porter playing in 8 full seasons. Two devastating injuries obliterated an entire season and cut two others much too short. A cartilage tear in his knee derailed his debut season with Detroit in 1975-76 after only 19 games. The following year, the Motor City used Porter for a spare 26 minutes a game instead of the 36 he received before the injury. Debilitating  injury struck again during Bullets training camp in October 1981. Porter snapped his Achilles tendon and missed all of the 1981-82 season and appeared in just 11 games in 1982-83, effectively ending his career.

Dime Machine: Despite the tempest, Kevin Porter remained a top notch passer. Four times he led the league in assists per game. Furthermore, Porter was a stud in assist percentage, which is the estimated number of FGs a player assisted while on the court. 6 different seasons (1975, 1977 – 1981) Porter led the league and his career average of 37.5% is 14th all-time.  Porter is the only PG near the top of the board who played during the 70s. In 1978, his moonlight season with New Jersey, Porter decided to make the experience memorable by breaking the record for assists in a single game:

Porter dished out 29 assists… and most of those handouts went to John Williamson and Bernard King, who scored 39 and 35 points respectively to help New Jersey down the Houston Rockets 126 – 122.

“He was just magnificent,” said New Jersey coach Kevin Loughery. “I’ve never seen anyone do quite as well as he did tonight.”

Scott Skiles has since tallied 30 assists establishing a new high, but I doubt we’re sneezing at Porter’s display. Kevin’s offensive contributions were not merely relegated to dishing the ball, either. He maintained a remarkably high shooting percentage for a point guard (48%) and was known to explode in a timely fashion despite his career average of just 11.6 ppg:

Little Kevin Porter went on a scoring binge in the final quarter Sunday to lead the Washington Bullets to a 98-92 victory over the Boston Celtics, clinching the Eastern Conference championship.

…

Porter, a 5-foot-11 playmaker, scored 13 of his 21 points in the final quarter… Porter also had 11 assists, nine of them in the first half when Washington went ahead, 55-40. “They were gambling quite a bit,” Porter said. “And when they do, you have to take it to the hoop. Hopefully, you draw a foul or they come after you and you can dish it off.”

Knowing when to dish it out, knowing when to take it to the rack to salvage victory for the team. These are the hallmarks of a great point guard. Kevin Porter is assuredly one of those being the first player to record 1000 assists in a single season and is also (as far as my research shows) the only player to record a 25 point-25 assist game. Sadly, sometimes such talent doesn’t get the appropriate stage or setting to illustrate its greatness for all to see and remember.