Remembering George McGinnis

It is indeed sad, exacerbated by a relative lack of coverage that ought to have been accorded a superb player, George McGinnis, who died days back, far too young at age 73.

Was he 73 or 72, probably the former, born in 1950 was likely 73 (it is December, a “mo” that creeps closer no matter), however, certain is that he was an integral part of Indiana Pacers’ title teams in both 1972 and 1973.

McGinnis must be mentioned as one of, if not the greatest player/achiever in ABA annals, before his < than, but still excellent NBA career, an assessment one could put forth about the media darling, and great player, Julius Erving.

Oh to see George hold the ball, his almost one man team effort as the Pacers made the 1975 ABA final, upsetting the almost unbeatable at home, Denver Nuggets in a 7 game semi, in which “Indy” prevailed thrice at Denver’s unreal advantage/”snakepit” small arena, in which they played before moving to the far bigger and less advantageous, McNichols Arena the next season.

Another time for opinions (save one) and details. Today, I cite that a fabulous player, George McGinnis died and there was far too little publicity accorded a great and Hall of Fame player.

Two pictures of 1974-1975 A.B.A. MVP George McGinnis below (I found a tape from April 1976 on which my late friend Brad Weiner and I “discussed” the ’74-’75 NBA MVP results, greats Rick Barry and Bob McAdoo involved just yesterday before learning George, pictured below holding the ABA ball with one hand before likely launching a jump shot).