James Worthy?

i hardly know anything of the man, im 23, so im knowledge of showtime is based on what my dad told me and what i've seen through clips


i know what magic did of course, one of the, if not the best PG to ever play the game and had 6'9 body frame. flashy passes, dribbles and for that height is unheard of.


kareem, the all time scorer in NBA history, the finesse center that can score much farther away from the basket than any other bigman before him, patented sky hook and one of the smartest students of the game.

micheal cooper, a lock down defender than can get to the hoop and can shoot the 3 ball.




i know worthy was some kind of corner man (SF/PF) what were his abilities? was he a slasher? i have a feeling he wasnt too much of a shooter. i just dont know what he really did, was he a defensive player? i mean he was picked 1st when he was drafted and is a HOFer. what was he known for?

LooN3y wrote:i hardly know anything of the man, im 23, so im knowledge of showtime is based on what my dad told me and what i've seen through clips


i know what magic did of course, one of the, if not the best PG to ever play the game and had 6'9 body frame. flashy passes, dribbles and for that height is unheard of.


kareem, the all time scorer in NBA history, the finesse center that can score much farther away from the basket than any other bigman before him, patented sky hook and one of the smartest students of the game.

micheal cooper, a lock down defender than can get to the hoop and can shoot the 3 ball.




i know worthy was some kind of corner man (SF/PF) what were his abilities? was he a slasher? i have a feeling he wasnt too much of a shooter. i just dont know what he really did, was he a defensive player? i mean he was picked 1st when he was drafted and is a HOFer. what was he known for?

Uh oh. . . *Ducks*

cmon guy

One pseudo-word: Wikipedia.

most impressive thing about 'Big Game" James Worthy is he can take on 2 hookers prior to a game to relax himself. I love james worthy

wikipedia doesnt capture the aspect of what a fan sees.


i mean i watched kobe since i was a kid, and if i knew nothing about kobe, id hardly know what i know about kobe by just going through wikipedia. same goes with AI, etc etc

youtube

1) almost separate, but i always wonder how things would have turned out for the showtime lakers if they had drafted the human highlight film that year instead of big game james

2) Game 2 turnover to Gerald Henderson, cost us a title more or less

3) this guy was phenomenal at running the wing

4) fantastic post game, had a great combo of size and agility to get his shot off

5) reasonable outside shooter, nothing fantastic if i remember. 20 feet and in type of player

6) don't recall his passing abilities

7) really really good rebounder for what he was

8) Finals MVP in '88? dropping that trip dub in game 7.

9) the post magic years were different. i remember wanting to just trade him. i recall him having injury issues. maybe his knees? too bad, but all around solid career.

Pig Miller wrote:1) almost separate, but i always wonder how things would have turned out for the showtime lakers if they had drafted the human highlight film that year instead of big game james

2) Game 2 turnover to Gerald Henderson, cost us a title more or less

3) this guy was phenomenal at running the wing

4) fantastic post game, had a great combo of size and agility to get his shot off

5) reasonable outside shooter, nothing fantastic if i remember. 20 feet and in type of player

6) don't recall his passing abilities

7) really really good rebounder for what he was

8) Finals MVP in '88? dropping that trip dub in game 7.

9) the post magic years were different. i remember wanting to just trade him. i recall him having injury issues. maybe his knees? too bad, but all around solid career.

This. I'll add, I have no idea how he got the nickname, other then the one game 7 triple double.

Play-offs-->elevates his game, thus the moniker Big Game James

John3:16 wrote:

Pig Miller wrote:1) almost separate, but i always wonder how things would have turned out for the showtime lakers if they had drafted the human highlight film that year instead of big game james

2) Game 2 turnover to Gerald Henderson, cost us a title more or less

3) this guy was phenomenal at running the wing

4) fantastic post game, had a great combo of size and agility to get his shot off

5) reasonable outside shooter, nothing fantastic if i remember. 20 feet and in type of player

6) don't recall his passing abilities

7) really really good rebounder for what he was

8) Finals MVP in '88? dropping that trip dub in game 7.

9) the post magic years were different. i remember wanting to just trade him. i recall him having injury issues. maybe his knees? too bad, but all around solid career.

This. I'll add, I have no idea how he got the nickname, other then the one game 7 triple double.

one game james

hahahaha^^^^

Pig Miller wrote:1) almost separate, but i always wonder how things would have turned out for the showtime lakers if they had drafted the human highlight film that year instead of big game james

Wilkins, like James, would have had a shorter career IMO. Riley's practice sessions and the playoff games would have worn him out sooner. The most playoff games Wilkins ever played in a season was 12. Worthy had 7 seasons of 10 or more playoff games and 3 seasons of 20 or more playoff games.

I'm a big Worthy fan and here's why :
He was big Game James before that game 7 of the 1988 Finals (36pts, 16rbs, 10ast)because he used to elevate his production during the playoffs and btw he was also the mop of the NCAA Finals.
He was one of the more athletic/explosive and dynamic Lakers of all time. His back to the basket game was phenomenal, he was so quick with his first step.
What I love about him was his huge hands and the soft touch he had with both of them.
He was very efficency, shooting more than 50% for almost all his career.
I don't think Dominique Wilkins would have been a better choice, yes he had better number (not for shooting %) but was the option n°1 during his whole career.
I really miss this kind of basketball player nowaday where it's more shooting a 3 or dunking the ball at this position. No more finger rolls, hook shoots, consistent post game....
Michael Jordan himself chose him for his best starting 5 ever.

As others have mentioned, excellent finisher & probably the best compliment to Magic at the time for run-n-gun. Great post up game too.

You know how some players, play well during the regular season and then fall off in the playoffs? Well, James Worthy would play better in the playoffs, thus being called Big Game James!

I was a big Worthy fan ... huge. Just absolutely loved the way he consistently stepped up his game for the playoffs year in and year out. That 1988 Finals Game 7 was just the culmination of all that. The amazing total domination by Worthy over one of the finest defensive players and rebounders ever to play the game in Dennis Rodman. Watching Rodman get frustrated over and over again in that game was priceless.

If Worthy had a weakness in his game, it was his perimeter shooting. He only had a few spots on the floor from which he was effective. He had no 3pt range to speak of, rarely shot them and never for a high percentage. But as a finisher both on the fast break and in the half court, and as a post player, he had no equal among small forwards in the league at that time. Only Dominique Wilkins and Alex English were better scorers from 15 feet to the rim among other contemporary small forwards playing at the same time. Yes I rank Bird below these three as scorers. Though Bird was probably the best overall team player, rebounder and perimeter shooter among the four.

Worthy's career ended prematurely due to tendinitis in his knees. You can see the problems beginning following his 8th season in 1989-90 when his FG% dropped from 55% to 49% for 1990-90 and 44% for 1991-92 and 1992-93, and then to 41% for his last season in 1993-94. It is instructive to see what happened when Magic was forced into retirement at the beginning of the 1991 season: Worthy attempted to step up and indeed he averaged 19.9ppg, but his bad knees were already evident before a knee injury cut his season short. That injury, coupled with the tendinitis sure made it painful to watch him during his last two seasons. He actually had one more season under contract, but mercifully spared us having to watch him limp through it.

So it's amazing to me to watch Kobe keep going like the Energizer Bunny ... I think of the wear and tear of the NBA and I think of guys like Worthy whose careers were cut short by aching knees.

Which current NBA player's game resembles the way James Worthy played?

Frank Dux wrote:Which current NBA player's game resembles the way James Worthy played?

I always thought Lamar Odom resembled Worthy's game.

hollywood swinger wrote:most impressive thing about 'Big Game" James Worthy is he can take on 2 hookers prior to a game to relax himself. I love james worthy

hey hey hey, that's not fair. It was the showtime era.

explosive first step


every time he got an ISO and that lead leg got in front, you KNEW he was gonna blow by his defender..


like some have said here, he was a beast running the lanes and always stepped up during the playoffs


Worthy was a Laker til the end...i still remember him going after AC when he went to Phoenix while we were rebuilding

Frank Dux wrote:Which current NBA player's game resembles the way James Worthy played?

If prime Shawn Marion had Kobe's post game. In other words, no one.

Punk-101 wrote:

Frank Dux wrote:Which current NBA player's game resembles the way James Worthy played?

If prime Shawn Marion had Kobe's post game. In other words, no one.

I agree, no one. and yes, Marion would have come closest if he had the post game to go with the rest of his skills. For everything but post game, Marion was Worthy-lite. No, not in Worthy's class, but more deserving of the salaries he was paid.

Frank Dux wrote:Which current NBA player's game resembles the way James Worthy played?

NO ONE

James Worthy was and still is an all-time NBA GREAT. An incredible slasher, and one of the best finishers around the hoop in NBA history. His handles were mediocre, but offensively that's about the only thing you could say. Otherwise, dude was a straight up baller. Unstoppable in the post, unstoppable finisher around the hoop, reminds me of Olajuwon with his ability to serve you one on one.