Thursday, April 10, 2008

Retired Players I Loved To Watch #2 (Synonymous with the headband.)

Chris Gatling


Playing for 8 different teams in his career, Chris Gatling wasn't the most well-traveled player -- Jimmy Jackson, Chucky Brown, and Tony Massenburg all have got him beat...they played for 12 different teams each -- but he was close. And I definitely think he got a bum deal for being traded and moved and swapped and dealt so often in his career. And I never understood it, because Gatling could play.

The knock against him was that he was one-dimensional (and he was), but he was really good at that one thing he could do -- scoring the basketball. He had an inherent knack for it. He fit right in with the high-scoring "Run TMC" Golden State teams at the start of his career. He was a back-up in Miami in the mid-90s and averaged an incredible 15 PPG off the bench (I don't remember who won Sixth man of the Year that season, but it'd be a crime if Gatling didn't finish in at least the Top 3). And running alongside Jason Kidd, he pumped his scoring average all the way up to 19 PPG and actually made an All-Star team.

He had long, stretchy arms and legs that could reach out forever; his nickname was "The Gatling Gun"; he always wore a sweatband around his head (I guess to distract from that vicious scar he had on the top of his skull); he had two separate tenures as a member of the Heat; he gained rave reviews for his play off Cleveland's bench in the early '00s; and he was one of the league's most high-energy players (to the point where he got a fitting, albeit stupid, tattoo of the Energizer bunny on his arm).

Gatling was an entirely unconventional player that didn't always fit seamlessly onto a team's roster (too slow-footed for SF, but too weak for PF/C) but that's exactly why he was much fun to watch.

Chris Gatling's career statistics



And sorry, this was the best I could find on YouTube. It's a 3 second clip of Gatling dunking against what seems to be the Houston Rockets. And I think the announcers may be speaking Portugese.

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