Begging Bob Seger’s forgiveness for twisting unbeatable lyrics, but I wish I knew then what I’m only finding out about now.
Thirty-six years ago (come June 16) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was traded by the Bucks to the Lakers. Before his sixth season the team franchise player/league centerfold politely informed management he was prepared to sign with the ABA Nets when his contract ran out later that year if he weren’t dealt to an NBA city of his choice.
Carmelo Anthony is executing pretty much the same game plan with the Nuggets. Having respectfully notified management he wants out after 81⁄2 seasons, he is prepared to exercise an escape clause and become a free agent at the end of year if not traded to a team of his choice.
Two “supreme court cases” with one definitive difference: The first remained utterly undercover for more than nine months or so until the Bucks finally accepted a rationally satisfactory offer, whereas the Nuggets’ negotiations with the Nets were played out publicly almost every day for four months before Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov (temporarily?) terminated trade talk.
“Kareem set quite a precedent, didn’t he?” Wayne Embry marveled last week by phone from his winter home in Scottsdale, where he works as a part-time consultant to the Raptors.
Talk about setting a standard; in 1972, three years after concluding an 11-season career as a center (12.5 points, 9.1 rebounds) for Cincinnati, Boston and Milwaukee, Embry (74 on March 26) became professional sports’ first black executive when the Bucks hired him as general manager to replace Ray Patterson.
Meaning, Embry conducted the clandestine operations that resulted in the Lord of the Rims being exchanged (along with Walt Wesley) for Brian Winters, Elmore Smith, Nos. 2 and 7 in the first round (David Meyers and Junior Bridgeman) and cash.
That was my second full season of tracking the Knicks. I’m still unsure why I got demoted from covering the Nets/ABA warzone. Like everyone else, including the Bucks’ two beat writers, I didn’t have the foggiest idea Kareem had asked out until shortly before the trade became official and still knew very few of the pertinent particulars until Embry agreed to share them. Abdul-Jabbar’s final chapter in Milwaukee began
Oct. 4. Sam Gilbert, the unofficial godfather and illicit supporter of many UCLA basketball players, called Bucks majority owner Wes Pavalon and heaved a hint of bad news on his doorstep.
A very straightforward meeting involving Pavalon, Kareem, Embry and Gilbert convened that Saturday for almost four hours at an isolated Sheraton west of Milwaukee. Abdul-Jabbar prefaced his wish to be traded with “Nothing against the organization, but the city and I aren’t culturally compatible.”
There was no talking him out of it. Kareem’s mood was pleasant, but he put it right out there about jumping leagues to the Nets if something couldn’t be arranged with the Knicks or Lakers.
“We knew if this got out we’d be sunk in our city, so we established guidelines,” Embry said. “We agreed to keep things quiet until a trade got close.”
Nevertheless, trade proceedings got delayed when Abdul-Jabbar broke his hand during the exhibition season. Don Nelson fouled him hard underneath and he just whirled and punched the stanchion. Though the league’s all-time leading scorer (38,387) played
68 games, finishing third in scoring (30 ppg.), fifth in rebounding (14 rpg.) and first in blocked shots (3.26 bpg.), the Bucks
(38-44) never recovered. They failed to make the playoffs after losing in The Finals (to the Celtics) the year before in seven games.
The Knicks were first to bid. Team president Mike Burke and general manager Eddie Donovan visited Milwaukee and “tried to steal Kareem,” Embry said.
“They thought they had the edge because he was from New York,” he said.
They offered a past prime Walt Frazier and, as usual, had no first-round picks.
“They thought cash was appealing to everybody, but cash can’t play,” Embry scoffed.
Bucks team president Bill Alverson grumbled to Embry, “They think we’re country hicks. Burke shows up in a $1,000 suit and tries to take us to the cleaners.”
Amazingly (or not), nothing leaked out about the negotiation.
Though Kareem didn’t designate the Atlanta Hawks as an option, Embry called them anyway, because they owned Nos. 1 and 3 in the ’75 draft. A meeting with owner Tom Cousins and coach/GM Richie Guerin went nowhere. Those picks translated into David Thompson and Marvin Webster. Both signed with the ABA Nuggets.
Amazingly (or not), nothing leaked out about that negotiation, either.
“It was important that didn’t happen, as we witnessed concerning Carmelo,” Embry said.
Periodically, Embry would call Abdul-Jabbar and ask if he had changed his mind.
“I told him, ‘You are the franchise. If you have a problem with [coach Larry] Costello, he can go,’ ” Embry said. “ ‘If you have a problem with me, I can go.’ He said no on both counts, he simply wanted out of Milwaukee.
“And because of the respect he had for us he kept everything secret. That allowed us to do our work.”
Embry’s road-running buddy was Lakers’ GM Pete Newell. At some point he confided Kareem’s stance and the rapidly restricting time frame to trade him.
Nearing mid-june, “out of the blue” Newell called Embry at 10 a.m. (7 a.m. in Los Angeles) and asked if Abdul-Jabbar was available.
“He might be,” Embry said. A meet was arranged that very afternoon in Denver at a Red Carpet Hotel. Embry and Alverson represented the Bucks in the conference room. Attorney/Board of Governor Alan Rothenberg and Jim Locher represented Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke.
The Lakers offered the two picks. Done. The Bucks asked for the shot-blocking Smith and offered Wesley to back up Kareem. Done. The Lakers offered past-his-prime Gail Goodrich. The Bucks needed to rebuild and instead wanted the deft-shooting rookie Winters, who had averaged 11.7 points. No deal.
“This guy Locher kept leaving the room,” Embry remembered, “and we keep negotiating.”
There was still not deal at eight. Embry and Alverson book a red eye to Chicago and they leave for the airport. At the last minute before takeoff, Rothenberg trotted down the concourse and up to the boarding area. Negotiations continued on the flight to Chicago and remained unresolved.
“Still no Winters, still no damn deal!” Embry exclaimed.
Embry and Alverson rented a car and drove to Milwaukee.
“I had just climbed into bed when my wife hands me the phone and says, ‘Guess who’s in town?’ Rothenberg’s asks if I can be at my office at 10 a.m. The deal was consummated long before noon, that included a cash component. How much? I’m ashamed to admit, something like $250,000,” Embry said.
Several board members of the Bucks were opposed to the agreement. Embry convinced them how serious Kareem was and how much the team had to lose if a deal wasn’t made. He conceded it wasn’t perfect, but advocated doing it out of respect to Abdul-Jabbar who carried the team to the ’71 title and to the ’74 Finals. Oscar Robertson had retired. It was time to build a new foundation.
Several weeks later, the agreement got out. Until then there were a couple of speculative stories.
“We met on Friday,” Embry recalled. “I am certain the board approved deal on the Saturday before the 16th and league approved it on Monday.
Until then there were a few rumors. There might have been a couple of speculative stories.
“Our beat writers would come to me ask, ‘Anything with Kareem?’ ” Embry said. “And I’d say, ‘I can’t talk to you. There’s nothing to discuss.’ It became a non-issue. Then all of a sudden it happened.”
peter.vecsey@nypost.com