![]() ![]() The big redhead anchored the perfect team in college, then spent his professional career wondering if it would ever happen again. He remembers Halberstam as a great writer - and a great friend. Jack Ramsay was the coach of the 1977 NBA champion Portland Trail Blazers and the year Halberstam covered the team, 1979-80. The coach would spend the next two years thinking about that perfect team. Within a year they imploded, ravaged by injuries and jealousy and money and everything else that was ruining the NBA at the time. ![]() ![]() When he finally won a championship, it happened in the blink of an eye - a young group peaking at the right time, a beautiful mix of speed and teamwork, his vision come to life, a dream finally realized. Deep down, he worried his career could pass without ever finding the right blend of players. He walked the streets for hours after tough losses, frightened players with his passion, challenged them to fistfights in the locker room, never wavered in his belief that basketball should be played a certain way. The coach spent his life waiting for the perfect team. They may have lived within 362 pages of a hardcover book, but I grew up with them. ![]()
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