Thanks for your enlightening reply, Zwrite. I also found this bio of Paul Arzin on nba.com. It begins:
"In the early days of the NBA a handful of pioneering players laid the groundwork for what would become "modern" basketball. What Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, and Cy Young were to baseball, these early hoopsters were to the game of basketball. One such player was Paul Arizin.
Playing in an era of old-fashioned two-handed set shots and slow-up offenses, Arizin burst into the league in 1950 with a repertoire that included a daring new weapon: the jump shot. By the time Arizin was leading the league in scoring as a second-year player with the Philadelphia Warriors in 1952, only a few other players had mastered the shot."
The article then reviews his career and early life (indicating that he was born in 1928) and goes on to discuss his senior year in HS:
"It was at this time [1945-46, he started college at Villanova in 1946] that Arizin discovered the jump shot. "It came by accident," he said. "Some of our games were played on dance floors. It became quite slippery. When I tried to hook, my feet would go out from under me, so I jumped. I was always a good jumper. My feet weren't on the floor, so I didn't have to worry about slipping. The more I did it, the better I became. Before I knew it, practically all my shots were jump shots." Ceilings in some of the halls were low, forcing Arizin to fire line drives into the basket. That shot, with its low trajectory, remained a part of his arsenal throughout his career."
It would be interesting to know how quickly the jump shot spread; I don't doubt that the best players, like Oscar Robertson, would have been using it by 1954, but it's hard to imagine that it was widespread at all levels by then if only a few NBA players had mastered it by 1952. Of course the older players had probably learned their game years before (as did my dad and coach, who both graduated from HS in the early '50's) and it would most likely have been up to the younger players to transform the game.
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zwrite2
16 years ago
KD:
Thans for the info on Paul Arizin. I wish the guy who does the Dead or Alive Web site knew what you knew.
A year or so ago, I consulted the Dead or Alive Web site for entertainment purposes and noticed the proprietor listed a professional wrestler as the most recent death. Scrutinizing the matter further as someone who has been a pro wrestling fan, I noticed that he listed an excessive amount of these idiots on his Web site. I say 'idiots' because the number of them who die at very early ages, probably because of drug use, is astonishing.
In any case, the person who had just died was a star for maybe two years and then disappeared, probably because he was a "star" only because you can get away with promoting a mediocrity as a star for a while when the matches are all fixed.
Paul Arizin had just passed away and I e-mailed the Dead or Alive proprietor questioning how he could list the wrestler and NOT Arizin, who was a star for about 12 years, was in the NBA Hall of Fame, and was the second or third leading scorer in NBA history at the time he retired.
The proprietor e-mailed me back that he had personally had never heard of Arizin and, thus, he was not going to list the guy. This seemed awfully myopic. There are a lot of people whom I've never heard of, but I would put on a famous person obit list if I had read their obit and concluded they deserved to be on the list.
The bottom line, though, is that Arizin is still not on the list as far as I know. I doubt that my telling this guy that Arizin was crucial in the development of the jump shot would have persuaded him, but at least I now know this thanks to your post.
Shalom,
ZWrite
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zwrite2
16 years ago
In writing a blog about the John Edwards controversy today, something occurred to me.
When I was a kid, I read a book by Wilt Chamberlain titled something like "I'm Just Like The Seven-Foot-Tall Black Millionaire Who Lives Next Door To You." In the book, Chamberlain -- who later became known as an expert on women -- said that in all his years in the NBA he had 70 or 80 teammates and only ONE did not cheat on his wife.
He identified the one non-cheater as Paul Arizin.
My recollection is that this caused a controversy because his teammate, Jerry West, was regarded at the time as an all-America goody two shoes. Chamberlain responded to the controversy by publicly reiterating that only Arizin was a loyal family man.
Shalom,
ZWrite
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