RIP Maurice Lucas

[secretariat]

Arguably the greatest Trail Blazer, depending on how you feel about Bill Walton or Clyde Drexler, dead at 58. **** you, cancer.

EDIT: Here's the link ... http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5751059

 

[slappy4428]

damn.

 

[dooley_womack1]

One of the top examples of an ABA star (former St. Louis Spirits player) being at least as much of a star in the NBA. A bad-ass power forward. R.I.P.

 

[steveu]

I remember the ABA retro T-shirts that were out a few years ago. Wish I'd picked up a Spirits of St. Louis shirt. That was one bad-ass team.

RIP, Maurice.

 

[dooley_womack1]

Yeah, when St. Louis absorbed the defunct Utah franchise, the Spirits picked up Moses Malone and Ron Boone to go with Freddie Lewis. But unfortunately, Maurice Lucas had already been traded to Kentucky. Mo and Moses would have been an awesome combo.

Edited to fix my remembrance fail.

 

[spnited]

Mo spent some time in with the Nets shortly after the merger. Great player and a good guy as well.
very sad news

 

[Smallpotatoes]

Wasn't he also a really good tennis player or am I thinking of some other basketball player who played in World Team Tennis in the 70's?

 

[Starman]

Wasn't he also a really good tennis player or am I thinking of some other basketball player who played in World Team Tennis in the 70's?

You're thinking of John Lucas (no relation), the guard from Maryland.

 

[Jesus_Muscatel]

RIP "The Enforcer."

Maurice Lucas knew his role, and did it well.

 

[Bubbler]

RIP. Also one of Marquette's greatest players.

 

[old_tony]

It was a Maurice Lucas shot at the buzzer that inspired this great photo.

That's Al McGuire on the scorer's table and the man giving him the one-finger salute is the father of Kim and Kerry Hughes, twin 7-footers that played at Wisconsin. Yes, he's the same Kim Hughes who finished last season as the Clippers' interim coach.

Lucas' shot won the championship game of the old Milwaukee Classic, which used to be co-hosted by Wisconsin and Marquette in the old Milwaukee Arena. The normal format seemed to be to bring in two patsie teams and then have Wisconsin and Marquette whip them and meet in the tournament final.

Great times. Even though UW basketball was not anywhere near the program it is now, that tournament final was almost always a really good game.

 

[DanOregon]

You hear about a cancer diagnosis these days and you are a lot more hopeful than in the past - which makes news like this that much more sad.
RIP Mo.

 

[Killick]

Holy ****, o_t. Great pull. That's hilarious.

 

[silvershadow1981]

Luke changed the tide of the '77 NBA finals squaring up with a 20 year old, 290 pound Darryl Dawkins. Blazers had lost the first two and then took the next four in mostly convincing fashion -

RIP to one of the forgotten good players of the game.

 

[Small Town Guy]

Didn't realize he was sick. As a Lakers fan, the lasting memory of Lucas in purple and gold is him being overmatched against Houston in the 1986 WCF. He also makes a brief appearance on the Lakers' 1987 championship DVD as the "King of Pain" returned to the Forum as a member of the Sonics. And Bill named Luke after Luke.

 

[Bob Cook]

As I recall from "Loose Balls," Maurice Lucas was one of the first players to do pregame stretching. He was the island of sanity on that insane Spirits of St. Louis team.

 

[dooley_womack1]

That 1977 final was awesome. Walton, Lucas and Lionel Hollins on the Blazers, and Erving, McGinnis and Doug Collins on the 76ers. The Sixers' front line was all ex-ABA