Scatter shooting while wondering….

…what ever happened to Robert Reid? For those that are not old enough to remember Robert Reid, he was drafted by the Rockets in the late 70’s and played for the team through out most of the 80’s.

Most of us remember Moses Malone, Calvin Murphy and Rudy T from the team of the late 70’s and early 80’s but for me it was Reid right after Moses Malone. It seemed like when I got to watch highlights of the Rockets on the news it was Reid that was most often on the highlights taking it hard to the basket.

During the 80-81 NBA championship Reid wore number 50 and guarded Larry Bird. Robert Reid did an outstanding job guarding Bird and as a result Cedric Maxwell was the MVP of that series and not Bird. Reid did it all that year, he was a serious offensive weapon scoring a lot of points, rebounding and handing out a lot of assists.

In 82 Reid killed me be leaving the Rockets. It has been a lot of years but I believe he left for the ministry. At the time it was such a huge story because he was seen as such an up and coming and highly skilled player on the team. Reid was a complete offensive player and I remember being shocked at his departure. My favorite player at the time Moses Malone had left the team for Philly and I was watching what had been an NBA finals team just a year earlier turn into a bottom dweller over night.

Reid came back to the team in 83 but I remember thinking that he just did not seem quite like the same player. Ralph Sampson was drafted that year and took the number 50 so Bill Fitch gave Reid the number 33 because that was Larry Birds number and Reid had done a great job against him in the NBA finals a few years earlier.

Unlike Robert Reid’s first tour with the Rockets he was no longer the young kid on the team, now he was one of the older players and considered a leader which was a role that seemed tailor made for him. When John Lucas was kicked off of the team in 85-86 and Allen Leavell broke his hand Reid had to move from small forward to point guard for most of the play offs. Bill Fitch started Robert Reid as a 6’8” point guard against Magic Johnson in the Western Conference Play-offs that year and the strategy worked out great as we all know how that series ended.

Reid’s career with the Rockets lasted for 10 seasons and he had some great early years and solid years later in his career. He was one of the true leaders of the team in 86 when the Rockets went to the NBA finals and eventually lost to the Celtics. Today we hear Shane Battier referred to as a glue player and we have heard players like TMac and Scottie Pippen referred to as point forward but Robert Reid was the original point forward and glue player as far as I am concerned.

 

I guess I was just reminiscing more than anything but Reid seemed like such an Classy guy on the team. I never remember him complaining about his role, or his minutes or about being moved from Small Forward to Shooting Guard to Point Guard.

Shane Battier has that same kind of class about him, never worried about how the team uses him but always willing to do what is asked.

I remember thinking after the Rockets lost to the Celtics in the Finals that Reid was going to be a star in the league and that along with Moses Malone the Rockets were going to be better than the Lakers or Celtics. But those were the musings of a 15 year old kid. I hated how we lost Malone and Reid but I was also a huge fan of Phi Slama Jama and of course my optimism returned not with the drafting of Ralph Sampson but with the drafting of the Dream.

When Reid left the team the first time it was such a huge story, but when he left the second time I don't remember any fan fare at all. Maybe because it was such a shock that such a young player would just choose to give up the sport as opposed to an aging player that was closing in on the end of his career.

Anyway, I have not lived in Houston since 89 so I never new if he was still promanent in the community but after reading Clutch's post appearently he still pops up from time to time, which gives me a little smile because he really was one of my favorite players back in those days.

 

I don't think he was talking about exact matches. Battier could not compare to Reids offensive game. Reid was a complete player and a much better rebounder than Battier. But both are total team players and very classy guys.

Like Battier Reid often times had to guard the other teams best player that was not center.

Reids best statistical seaon:
16 points per game
7 rebounds per game
4 assists per game
2 steals a game
.482 field goal percentage

nice numbers IMO.

 

Thanks for posting the link.

It's great to hear on the Radio.