Retired Players I Loved Watching #9 (He was a member of that '96-'97 Bullets team that was pretty good)

Calbert Cheaney

Cheaney had an amazing collegiate career at Indiana in the early '90s -- made it to the Final Four, averaged 22 PPG his senior season, won multiple Big Ten titles, is both his school and conference's all-time leading scorer, NCAA Player of the Year.

However, after getting drafted 6th overall in the '93 draft, he didn't amount to much in the NBA. Never made an All-Star team, never averaged more than 16 PPG in a season, never competed for a championship.

His problem was that he wasn't that naturally gifted. In college, he was able to maximize every ounce of talent he had through hard work and determination; but he was exposed in the pros. The wind-up of his jumpshot was too slow, he couldn't elevate or release the ball quick enough. He wasn't fleet-footed, so he couldn't outrace anyone down the court. And because he lacked any kind of explosion, he didn't have the luxury of being able to blow by defenders, to jump through or around them. He just wasn't born with an elite level of athleticism.

Basically, he was slow and unexciting. And in a backwards sort of way, that's exactly what I appreciated about him.

Since he wasn't the innate athlete as most of his peers (and since he played under a rigid, old-school coach like Bob Knight at IU) he did everything the "right" way. It may not have been the most entertaining way, but it was definitely the fundamentally correct way. It's kind of like how you grit your teeth over how boring Tim Duncan is, but begrudgingly respect him for being so steady and solid. Everything Calbert did was perfectly textbook: most of his passes were either chest passes or two-handed passes, cutting down on the likelihood of turnovers; the form on his jump shot (form an "L" with your elbow, bend knees, follow through on the release) was exactly the same each and every time; he instinctively boxed out his man after every shot; understood the importance of spacing on the court, moving well without the ball and rotating from the strong side of the floor to the weak side; played defense by his moving his feet rather than poking with his arms; understood who was left unguarded after a double team; never left his feet without either having a clear path to the basket or an open teammate to pass of too; knew how to fill the proper lanes on a fast break and always trailed a breakaway layup attempt.

For someone like me who could barely get off the ground and didn't have a quick first step with the basketball, I respected Cheaney for making due with his weaknesses and making the most of his (few) strengths. In a game that relies almost entirely on running fast and jumping high, he made a career for himself without being able to do either. For basketball purists that grew up around the game and have a profound understanding of its X's and O's, Calbert Cheaney -- if not necessarily "fun" in the traditional sense of the word -- was a very enlightening player to watch.

Calbert Cheaney's career statistics