Sugar by Charley Rosen

Author:Charley Rosen [Rosen, Charley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: SPO004000 Sports & Recreation / Basketball
ISBN: 978-1-4962-0612-1
Publisher: UNP - Nebraska
Published: 2018-01-31T05:00:00+00:00

Through a complicated procedure that centered on his most recent NBA team being the New Jersey Nets, the CBA’s rights to Micheal Ray Richardson belonged to the Albany Patroons, the league’s showcase franchise. For Steve Warshaw, the general manager for the Rockford Lightning, Richardson’s history of drug abuse would definitely not have disqualified him from playing for Albany. “One of the purposes of the CBA,” said Warshaw, “is to rehabilitate guys and get them back into the NBA. Since the average annual salary for a CBA player is a little more than $6,000, we like to think players in our league can’t afford drugs.”

However, if only five or six players got coked out of the CBA every year, the quasi-official drug of the league was marijuana.

Here’s what one veteran CBA coach emphasized to his players during their initial team-wide meeting: “The CBA has zero tolerance for coke. One positive test and you’re out for good. That means you’ll never play in the NBA or over the waters. But the drugs tests here do not test for pot. So, stay away from coke no matter what the circumstances. If you must get high, smoke a joint, but only on off-days or after games. And here’s a tip for smoking pot on the road . . . Stuff a wet towel under and above the door to keep the smoke from leaking into the hall. And keep the noise down so the desk clerk won’t call the cops. If pot is semi-legal in the CBA, it’s still a crime in the real world.”

This coach’s players greatly appreciated his pragmatism and his honesty. From that point on, there was a bond of trust between him and the most mature of his players.

For the 1987–88 CBA season, the Albany Patroons were coached by Bill Musselman, who had already coached the Tampa Bay–Rapid City Thrillers to three consecutive CBA championships. The fiery Musselman had a history nearly as dramatic and controversial as Richardson’s.

Musselman had been a three-sport hero at Wooster High School in Wooster, Ohio. From there he went to Wittenberg College, where he became the second-leading career scorer in the school’s basketball history. His coaching career had a modest beginning—leading Kent State University High School to a 14-5 record in 1963. Then came a six-year tenure at Ashland University and an overall record of 109-20.

Even then, Musselman approached the game with a ferociously competitive attitude. He relentlessly drove his players to reach perfection and ruthlessly attacked their every mistake. Winning justified any tactic. Channeling Vince Lombardi, Musselman’s mantra was “Defeat is worse than death because you have to live with defeat.”

This attitude even applied to his relationship with his son, Eric. “We used to play one-on-one while I was growing up,” said Eric, “and Dad always came right at me, playing as hard as if his life was at stake. And he kept on beating me until one day when I was in the ninth grade. After that game, he didn’t speak to me for a few days, and we never played one-on-one again.

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