In 1978, I was a player-coach for the Tucson Sky. The All-Star Game was held in El Paso, and I was coaching the East team. Wilt was playing, and a journalist from the major El Paso paper called me a couple of days before for an interview about the game. I found out later that this guy didn’t like Wilt, and he asked me specifically, “What do you think about Wilt?” And we had all been kind of primed not to say too many negative things about Wilt.
Wilt was, by and large, a very effective hitter. The rest of his game was spotty because he hadn’t played that much. His blocking and ball handling were not too strong, and his hands were so big he couldn’t set the ball. It was like setting a softball or a baseball. And his passing wasn’t that strong, either. But it didn’t matter. It was a specialized game at that time. There was no rotation. And he was very effective in his role.
There were some world-class players at that game, and also the best American players, who were getting better all the time with the competition.
So we got to El Paso, and the morning of the match, I was at breakfast. And Dodge Parker, an old friend who was on the other team, said, “Did you see the headline in the paper? Why did you say that?” And I said, “Say what?” So I looked at the paper, and it said something like “Shewman says East will go after Chamberlain’s weak ball handling.”
When we got to the gym before the match, the owner of the league came up in a panic and said, “Byron, you’ve got to go over and talk to Wilt. He’s threatening not to play. And if that happens, we’ve got no TV.” And I’m stammering, and I see Wilt. And it was one of those hot El Paso days, and he was over there sweating in his tank top. He looked like Godzilla. It looked like he had steam coming off his forehead. So I went over and said, “Wilt, can I have a word with you?” And he said, “Don’t even bother,” and he turned his back on me.
After warm ups, they introduced both teams, and we were kind of behind the bleachers. And for some reason, I was the last guy to be introduced for the East and he was the last guy from the West. I’ll never forget standing next to him. We were back in this corner, like in a cave. And here was this giant of a human being still seething at me, and I just wanted them to introduce me so I could get out of there.
“And then Wilt went out and played—and I’ve seen three Olympics and a lot of world-class, high-level volleyball—and he played as well as any hitter I’ve ever seen. He was playing against some world-class players, and I can’t remember his stats, but it was something close to a 90-percent kill rate. I guess a lot of it was attributed to me and that headline.
After the game, I ran up to the writer and said, “You’d better get over there right now.” I made sure that guy wrote a letter of apology to let Wilt know that he misquoted me, which he did. And he did write it.
I saw Wilt maybe a year later on the beach and we laughed and he said, “Don’t worry about it.”
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Don't know how I forgot about Zbo
