The Candidate Who Couldn't Shoot Straight
Former NBA center Chris Dudley is running for governor of Oregon as a Republican.
Dudley, 45, has a degree in economics and political science from Yale. His paternal grandfather, Guilford Dudley, was US ambassador to Denmark during the Nixon and Ford administrations. The Times ran an interesting – and balanced! – piece on him today.
As a player, Dudley was infamous for his horrendous shooting. Playing mostly with the Nets, Trailblazers, and Knicks, Dudley’s lifetime scoring average was 3.9 points per game. He holds the league record for missed consecutive free throws (13) as well as the record for missed free throws for a single trip to the line (5). But Dudley was a good shot-blocker and defender and played 16 years -- about 15 more than anyone expected.
Back when I occasionally covered the Knicks, the nearly 7-foot Dudley was often savaged by the press. If I remember correctly, headline writers touted him the “Great White Nope” more than once. But, he was polite, reserved, and unflappable.
He was also known, I might add, as “Dudley Do Right.” Dudley was diagnosed with Type-1 diabetes when he was 16 and, through his foundation and camps, works to comfort children living with the disease. When he played for Portland, Dudley also gave $300,000 to help pay the college tuition of an entire class of 4th graders.
Dudley’s candidacy has met with some skepticism, but he’s not above laughing at himself:
“When I was playing in the N.B.A., it was, ‘Well, he’s from Yale, he’s too intellectual,’ ” he said. “Now it’s flipped back the other way.”
I don’t know … I like this guy. What’s the word on him from the West Coast?
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Comments :
Jul '10
Re: The Candidate Who Couldn't Shoot Straight
Ursula, I have no idea what kind of governor Dudley would make, but I saw the man play many times. He was seemingly a hard worker. I say seemingly because it's so hard to fathom how he could be so poor at the line if he practiced at all. He certainly displayed effort on the floor, during the games.
Because I saw him play, I believe your statistic about the 5 missed free throws in one trip isn't a typo. He was so awkward opposing players repeatedly committed lane violations before he released the ball, right?
This guy definitely belongs in the Senate.
Re: The Candidate Who Couldn't Shoot Straight
Palaeologus, you are correct! Here is the account from ESPN from Jan, 29, 1989 (via wiki):
(This was back in the "olden" times when Washington was the Bullets sted Wizards.) And, having attending more than my share of Knicks' practices, I can attest that he *did* practice foul shooting. A lot. However, he finished his career with 45.8% shooting. Makes Shaq look positively automatic with a 52.7%.
May '10
Re: The Candidate Who Couldn't Shoot Straight
Sort of like the putting "yips" in golf, I guess, where you involuntarily at the last second squeeze the ball/handle just before the stroke. You'd think that one of these FT hopeless types would try the washerwoman underhand technique just for the novelty since it seems to be less prone to such vectoring.