Why Didn't John Wooden Ever Coach the U.S.A. Team In The Olympics

by Achilles on Sep 9, 2010 3:21 PM PDT

While following Team USA in the World Championships, I got to wondering why Coach Wooden never coached in the Olympics.

Did a quick search and came across this article.

Here is an excerpt:

Wooden told Herron why there was a chism. The Olympic basketball selections back then were a mess. In the 1960s, the NCAA was starting to supplant the AAU as the primary force of amateur basketball in America. But political wrangling still existed.

During the trials, six all-star teams were brought in. Three from the NCAA, two from the AAU and one from the NAIA. After each day of practice and games, the committee would meet and vote on who deserved spots.

In summer 1964, UCLA was coming off its first NCAA championship. The stars of that teams were guards Walt Hazzard and Gail Goodrich. Wooden told Herron the Olympic basketball power-brokers had committed to having Goodrich on the team. But when the team was announced, no Goodrich, though Hazzard did make it.

Goodrich was a whale of a player. He’s in the Basketball Hall of Fame. Had a great career with the Lakers, after leading UCLA to two straight NCAA titles.

Wooden said he had a falling out with the Olympic basketball people from then on. In both 1968 and 1972, UCLA’s stars didn’t participate in the Olympic Trials. No Lew Alcindor. No Bill Walton. (Though Nater, Walton’s backup, participated in the ’72 trials.)

Pretty interesting story if you have five minutes. The story also notes that UCLA's two biggest stars, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton chose not to play in the Olympics, though I don't think they didn't play for the same reasons Coach Wooden didn't coach. I've heard that Abdul-Jabbar (then Lew Alcindor) didn't go in '68 for political reasons, but I don't have the time to research that part of the story and I could be remembering things wrong.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

Tweet Comment 5 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

1968 olympics

There was a lot of controversy over the Olympics in Mexico City. Critics of having the games in Mexico felt that Mexico did not have the luxury of spending money on hosting when they had pressing domestic problems. The Mexican government ordered the killing of students who were protesting against the Olympics.

Additionally, racial tensions that manifested in the “black glove salute” may have contributed to Walton and Alcindor’s decisions not to play.

by brand0n on Sep 9, 2010 7:56 PM PDT reply actions

Bureaucracy

Wooden couldn’t stand the USOC and their methods and wanted no part of them.

In ’68, Kareem (Alcindor) and Lucius Allen were both solicited by the Olympic powers, and both declined, for political/racial reasons. Exactly right, b, it was the same political issue that culminated in the Smith-Carlos “demonstration.” And the issue that has guided Kareem through his remarkable post-basketball career as a writer.

I don’t recall what the issue was for Big Bill (or Wilkes or Bibby). It may have been Wooden’s influence at that point. Or the famously radical Bruins could have been too politically charged for the very conservative USOC. The USOC chose Hank Iba, a boring, old school coach, about 20 years past his prime, who managed to lose the championship for the first time ever, with a team led by the immortal Doug Collins. The style of play was somnolent, none of the top players in the country were on the team, and presto! The notorious loss to the Russians.

Too bad Bill Walton or one of his teammates isn’t on BN, because it would be interesting to hear from them.

Collins parlayed the Olympics into a top draft choice and a journeyman career in the NBA, then became famous as the coach Michael Jordan didn’t want, thereby launching Phil Jackson’s juggernaut.

by Herodotus on Sep 10, 2010 6:09 AM PDT reply actions

I don't disagree with your post ...

but I think it’s a bit unfair to place all the blame for the loss to the Soviets on Iba.

That’s one of the most famous games in basketball history and the U.S. was done in by referees and officials, not necessarily their own coach.

Also, I loathe Doug Collins for several reasons, but I have to give the guy credit for nailing two key free throws in that game. History would later turn on a coin flip. Portland won a coin flip with Philadelphia and took Walton first in the draft, the Sixers took Collins. Both would ultimately win a title. For what it’s worth, he wasn’t a journeyman, he spent his whole career with Philly. He actually had a couple of good seasons in the 70s, but he got hurt (like Walton) and was never the same.

by Achilles on Sep 10, 2010 9:28 AM PDT up reply actions

For what it's worth . .

The idea of a 51-50 game in 1972 was ludicrous. Iba played a slowdown game, which was suited to the Russians and not the athletic US team, though looking back at the lineup, it has to be one of the worst we ever fielded. Thus were we put in the position to lose, and of course the refereeing was laughable. I’m hoping that if we play Turkey in the finals this year, we don’t face the same sort of thing.

Collins came out a year before Walton and played a year in the ABA despite being drafted by the Sixers. (source: Wikipedia) He never played on a championship team. The Sixers lost to Walton’s Portland in 1977. They didn’t win a championship until the Moses Malone Fo-fo-fo season in 1983, after Collins had left the team and was no longer playing. In fairness, he made four all-star games, but I always thought his reputation hinged on those two free throws. Walton actually got two rings, the second as the sixth man for the Celtics on aging legs.

by Herodotus on Sep 11, 2010 8:59 AM PDT up reply actions

Had Walton been there

Forever a Walton admirer, I really cannot stop contemplating, over the years, about the possible outcome of that game had Bill Walton, one of the most dominant collegiate basketball centers ever, been on the US squad in 72.

If I recall correctly, the gold medal winning Soviet team later toured our country too. During one of its stops here in Los Angeles, they collided head on with an all star college team featuring none other than Bill Walton, Ernie DiGregorio and other vaunted players then. I never saw the game myself but based on what I read, Walton summarily dispatched his Soviet counterpart even with limited minutes of participation in the game.

by Htse005 on Sep 10, 2010 10:56 PM PDT reply actions