Before the Nadal-Nishikori night match at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami a couple of weeks ago, I decided to run out and watch some WTA doubles, a tight contest between Peng Shuai and Shahar Peer against the #1 team of 2010, Srebotnik and Peschke.
On the side of the bleachers of the far baseline, sitting just a few yards away from my left shoulder was the former NBA great Bob McAdoo, who was watching the match with his daughter, son and wife.
Sporting a Miami Heat cap, a team which he currently serves as an assistant coach, the six-foot-nine McAdoo stood out with his long legs and sophisticated countenance.
After the match, I was able to do a Biofile with the former two-time NBA champion and three-time scoring leader and the subject of tennis was mentioned by McAdoo several times.
First, when asked his hobbies and interests, McAdoo answered: “Tennis. That’s why I’m here now. I love tennis. I’ve got all my kids playing tennis growing up and I just love watching it on TV and watching it live when I have the chance.â€
Then later I asked Bob who were his favorite athletes he liked to watch? “Oh, Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Pete Sampras when he played. Arthur Ashe. Because Arthur Ashe is the reason I got interested in tennis. I ended up seeing the Arthur Ashe-Jimmy Connors match, I think 1975 Wimbledon. He upset Jimmy Connors and I’ve been a tennis fan ever since.â€
What is the appeal of tennis for you? “It’s one-on-one. You’ve got to figure it out for yourself. It’s like a chess game. You’ve got to be smart on the court, you’ve got to have all the strokes. You can’t depend on teammates. I just like the one-on-one competition,” said the former Knick, Celtic, Piston, Sixer, Laker, Brave and Italian League star.
The final Biofile question was, What are some people qualities you most admire, qualities you like to see in people? Once again, a tennis reference influenced his answer: “Classy people. That’s one of the reasons I like tennis too. Because when I saw a guy like Arthur Ashe and now I see guys like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, they exude so much class for the sport. That’s what we need in every sport, basketball also.â€
Interestingly, and sort of ironically, McAdoo cited Earl “The Pearl” Monroe as his childhood basketball inspiration: “I’m from Greensboro, North Carolina, I used to see Earl Monroe play at Winston-Salem State. And he used to average 40 points a game and it was just fantastic seeing him twirlin’ and whirlin’ and making those baskets. That’s when I said: I’d love to be a basketball player.â€
“The Pearl” became a very good tennis player after his NBA career concluded and even used to play regularly years ago at the local courts at Argonne Park in the town I live in Teaneck, NJ. A good friend George Fay used to play with Monroe and said he was very quick, a fantastic competitor with excellent reach and range at net. Monroe resides in Harlem but because of knee injuries doesn’t play any more. I’m working on doing a future feature about Earl Monroe’s love for tennis. Stay tuned…
Five-time NBA All-Star, McAdoo was the 1975 NBA MVP and scored 18,787 points in his career.
Former NBA star admires the class of Federer and Nadal
