This man played like the Chuckwagon wished he could have played; and carried himself through life the way I wish I had.
I am pretty sure Unseld was only 6'6" (I think listed as 6'7") but he was a beast inside and even with Elvin Hayes alongside Unseld gobbled up every possible rebound. He would set screens that would loosen teeth and used his bulk to defend. But he was perhaps the best passing center of his era, and one of the best outlet passers of all time. That Bullets teams was one of my favorites.
A 6'6" center that pushed people around and averaged nearly 15 rebounds a game. I have never met him but I have only heard good things about him as a human being.
I disagree ONLY with his height. I always ‘knew’ it to be 6’5”. And beast and a half. And then everyone had a 7-footer in the middle.
Nice little profile from 10+ years ago in his hometown paper. https://www.baltimoresun.com/bs-mtblog-2009-03-catching_up_with_wes_unseld_1-story.html "I was country-strong," he said. "I didn't lift weights or work on some Nautilus machine. I grew up in Kentucky, carrying block and brick in construction work with my dad." Nowadays, Unseld operates a private school in West Baltimore with his wife, Connie. There, the five-time NBA all-star does everything from typing memos to cutting the grass to teaching youngsters how to bake bread. The man once dubbed "Wes Unselfish" is still a team player. On weekends, he said, "I dilly dally in photography and woodworking. Got a wood shop at the house." What does Unseld make? "My wife calls it 'expensive kindling,' " he said, then paused. "I think she's right." --- ASIDE: hometown papers (like the Baltimore Sun) used to be so great for their communities. It's sad we're going to lose all them.
Expensive kindling. LOL. RIP and thoughts to the family. Sounds like Wes was a fantastic human being.
I don't remember watching him play since I had just started watching basketball around when he retired, but obviously know what a legend in the game he is. R.I.P. big dude.
Can we call him the original small ball center? Did you know that his career 3pt average was 50%? Not to mention 14 rebounds per game.
