Petersen's on his toes to put his arms around Ralph and Granville in that pic. If you look down at the floor, you can see it. Hakeem and Petersen were around the same height, weren't they? Ralph was 7'4" - well, his NBA height - I think he was probably more around 7'1" - 7'2", but it's common knowledge Hakeem wasn't 7'0", but more around 6'10"-6'11". So there should probably be around a 3"-4" height difference, but that's just a guess because... who knows? lol. To this day, I don't understand what Leavell was doing in that pic. lol.
I think Akeem was actually 6' 10", although he he was listed at 7' I think. He looks shorter than Granville Waiters too, who was 6' 11".
Mitch was one of my favorites on the team. Great defender and a streaky shooter. Very underrated pick up for the Rockets. I hated losing him more than Lew Lloyd. Lew was a handful off the court. While playing for the Rockets, I remember Lew and his entourage camped out a Stouffers hotel a block or so from the Summit and ran up a bill Lew couldn't pay. 50k or so, I think, Mitch was a quieter less flashy guy off the court from what I can recall. I rooted for him when he played with the Clippers later on. I was very happy that his son, Andrew made it to the NBA too. RIP Mitch WIggins
When they came back from the suspensions Mitch had worked on his game and he had his best season, but Lew was overweight and a shadow of what he was before the suspensions.
May he RIP. I remember when he and Lew Lloyd were called into the front office about cocaine use - the NBA had a policy, where if you admitted it, you had to go to a drug treatment center for 30 days but then you could come back and play. The NBA reps had seen them do it, they offered several opportunities for Wiggins and Lloyd to admit it and enter treatment. Both denied, and were lifetime banned from the league (minimum 2 years). This, and then Lucas getting caught tore down that championship contender, and to this day, I still don't understand why they didn't just admit it and take the 30 days...... Man, Wiggins and Lloyd were fun to watch. BTW - Lew LLoyd invented the EURO step...... DD
Part of that great run to the Finals against Boston, up until the first championship our best team after Moses was "given away," in my opinion. A team that the media loved and expected to be the next dynasty. Deep and talented, with Mitchell Wiggins a solid part of that rotation. It must have been amazing to play with Sampson and Olajuwon. Rest in peace, you've left us too soon.
is that bill berry and david nordstrom standing behind rudy? i remember having a calendar from ‘86, something like Rockets Incognito
