As the Jazz try to shake off their latest miracle win, Rickey Green could talk about an even more amazing comeback.
Green's steal and pass to Darrell Griffith for a three-pointer completed the Jazz's rally from seven points down in the last 28 seconds to defeatDallas in November 1986. "There aren't too many of those," said Green, returning to the Salt Palace for Indiana's practice Thursday afternoon. Green will face his old Jazz teammates tonight.
The Jazz, meanwhile, have to move on after Wednesday's wild 108-107 win over Chicago that saw them scoring the last eight points of the game. "It's like you're never going to lose another ballgame, in your own mind," Coach Jerry Sloan noted. "I like the confidence, but not the overconfidence. Nobody cares what you did yesterday."
Green could say the same about his Jazz career.
After spending seven seasons in Utah, Green was the Jazz's all-time leader in games played (606) until Griffith overtook him last April. Probably the most remarkable part about Green's Jazz stay was that he opened the 1987-88 season as a 33-year-old starter - ahead of John Stockton.
Eventually that year, he was left unprotected in the expansion draft and went to Charlotte.
Green, who finished last season with Milwaukee after being waived by Charlotte, signed with the Pacers this fall as a backup to point guard Vern Fleming. Averaging about 10 minutes a game, Green might be playing more except that Fleming is very durable and is off to a great start as the Pacers (4-1) became the NBA's last unbeaten team before losing to the Lakers Wednesday.
Fleming is averaging 21.6 points and 8.0 assists while shooting 60 percent from the field. "He's turned the corner," says Coach Dick Versace.
And Green, at 35 the NBA's fifth-oldest player, is still going. "How old am I?" he asks good-naturedly. "I lose count."
Says Griffith, "Rickey's also kept himself in great shape, so age is irrelevant. That's just nothing but a number."
Green even plans to play a couple of seasons in Europe after finishing his NBA career. Although Fleming is playing close to 40 minutes a game, Green will have a steady role with the Pacers at least until rookie George McCloud is ready for some point-guard minutes.
"He's still got speed, he can still run a club," Versace says of Green. "He's easy to have on your team." *****
(chart) NBA's oldest players
Player Team Birthdate
Caldwell Jones Spurs 4-4-50
Robert Parish Celtics 8-30-53
John Lucas Rockets 10-31-53
Alex English Nuggets 1-5-54
Rickey Green Pacers 8-18-54
Walter Davis Nuggets 9-9-54
Dennis Johnson Celtics 9-18-54
Mychal Thompson Lakers 1-30-55
T.R. Dunn Nuggets 2-1-55
Moses Malone Hawks 3-23-55