Читать книгу Indiana University Olympians. From Leroy Samse to Lilly King онлайн

33 страница из 79

” The magnitude of it was underscored to Buckner in Barcelona, where he was an NBC reporter at the 1992 Olympics. Within the first few minutes after the Dream Team went into the locker room, somebody spoke the words “got you” to Buckner.

“I didn’t pay any attention. It was Magic,” Buckner said. “I had not even thought about it. That’s how important it was to him.”

The Los Angeles Lakers superstar had joined Lucas and Buckner in that state/ NCAA/Olympics/NBA championship club.

Buckner went on to a ten-year career in the NBA with the Bucks, Boston Celtics, and Indiana Pacers. As in college, he was a defender and playmaker rather than a scorer. He made the NBA all-defensive second team four times with the Bucks. In 1980–81, he had career highs in scoring (13.3 points per game [ppg]) and steals (197, third in the NBA), and the Bucks were 60–22 in the regular season.

In 1982, the Bucks traded him to the Celtics for center Dave Cowens. In 1984, with Buckner coming off the bench, the Celtics went 62–20 and beat the Lakers 4–3 in the best-of-seven NBA Finals. The Celtics also made the 1985 finals but lost to the Lakers 4–2.