Did the 1979 NCAA championship game hurt pro and college Basketball?

It would be easy for me to answer this question with a resounding yes but that would be to much like right. The 1979 NCAA championship game captured the imagination of an entire country. Many sports historians credit this game as the catalyst of what we have all come to know as "March Madness".

If this game doesn't happen then maybe Christian Laettner's shot doesn't matter that much thirteen years later. Maybe Rick Neuheisal never gets fired at Washington for participating in an office pool. College football was the darling of the television networks. The wide world of sports on ABC drew bigger ratings than the NBA and college basketball combined.

The integration of college basketball also spread to the NBA. Earl Lloyd was the first black player to play in the NBA. Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Elgin Baylor, and Wilt Chamberlin were stars in college before going on to have hall of fame careers in the NBA. So what does that have to do with '79? Everything.

By the 70's the upstart ABA and the spike in black players in college and pro basketball started to cause a stir in some "traditional" settings. There were still some great white ball players in this era. Guys like Jerry West, (the logo) Bob Pettit, Pete Maravich, Dan Issel John Stockton Jack Sickma, and Rick Barry were stars in there own right spanning the era of the late 50's to late 80's.

The consensus thought amongst some fans was that college and pro basketball was becoming to "black". The Celtic's of the 1960's dominated the NBA with a mixture of black and white stars. John Havlicek was just as important as Russell considering Hondo played well into the mid 70's leading the Celtics to 1974 NBA title.

When Magic and Bird went at each other for the title in 79, the nation was split right down the middle. Historically race has always done that to this country. We could posthumously call guys like Jack Johnson, Jim Jefferies, Jim Thorpe, Joe Louis and Max Schmelling to the witness stand to get their take on this ugly truth. Nothing gets sports fans more emotionally involved than an us versus them contested vicariously through American sports figures.

Bird and the Indiana State Sycamores went on to lose that game to Magic and his more talented Michigan State team but a seed was planted in the minds of the casual basketball fan both black and white.

Magic and Bird went on to battle each other 3 times in the NBA finals in the eighties. Both won multiple MVP awards and NBA championships leaving an indelible mark on each other and the game. However a perception lingers around the game of basketball that few will dare discuss. Bird once conceded that basketball is a "black man's" game.

There's a grain of truth to that depending on which angle you look at it from but does that mean that white guys can no longer play the game of basketball? The answer is NO. The nineties era saw this belief further perpetuated after Danny Ferry wasn't the big hit that many expected. Many sports fans and analyst were anointing a new white guy as the next Larry Bird every week it seemed.

Who can forget the infamous prophecy that Rick Pitno laid on Mark Pope? Isiah Thomas once complained that Larry Legend was overrated because he was a white guy. The last American born white guy to be taken number one overall was Kent Benson (Indiana) in the 1977 NBA draft. Slowly during the decade of the eighties and nineties "foriegn" born players have compensated for the perceived lack of talent for American born white players.

This has also sparked a belief that fundamental basketball in regards to American black players have taken a backseat to the "playground" game. Some of that may be true as it pertains to a small percentage coaches and players but true students of the game will argue that the game of basketball has been influenced by multiple philosophies.

For instance the NBA went through a very physical period which made for low scoring which focused to much on the "star" player instead of the team. College basketball saw a press and free flow style flourish allowing players to shoot the three like a layup. Teams coached by Paul Westhead, Rick Pitino, Jerry Tarkanian and Nolan Richardson became household names with their similar styles.

Once Jordan retired there seemed to be a scramble to find an heir apparent. Guys like Grant Hill were dogged with this comparison after entering the league during Jordan's first retirement. The 2000's saw a mass exodus of unprepared high school seniors get drafted into the NBA. Of course Lebron James is the rare exception but can we say the same for Tyson Chandler, Eddie Curry, Disanga Diop, Sean Livingston and Gerald Green?

We shouldn't even mention Kwame Brown, it may draw the ire of Stephen A. Smith. It should be noted that guys like C.J. Miles, Martell Webster, Deshawn Stevenson and Sebastian Telafair have shown flashes of brilliance but they haven't quite lived up to the foundation that Kobe Bryant, Tracey Mcgrady, Kevin Garnett and Rashard Lewis have laid. In fairness to them they have had decent NBA careers and in some circles are considered above average players.(I'm sure they would still get love in any gym in America during a pick up game)

I'd make the argument that they've gotten the better of their critics in comparison to spurning college in favor of turning pro. No they aren't all stars but they earn an honest living unlike some of their peers who may never reveal the recruiting scandals that may have happened during the arms race amongst colleges to earn their "scholarshipped" services. Don't act as though I'm the only skeptic about what really goes on behind the scenes during the recruitment of blue chip athletes.

The NBA is still pretty popular in most areas of the country. David Stern was smart enough to take the product of American pro basketball to the global frontier. John Q citizen may never regain interest in the NBA like the days of Bird but he may still follow college basketball for a few weeks in March. Only the real fans of hoops will watch the NBA playoffs...

The 1979 game was really the last time we saw an American white guy live up to the hype both in pro and college. The NBA does need another "bad white boy" to tear up the league. Christian Laettner was good but not great. Adam Morrison and J.J. Reddick were/are teases. Kevin Love right now appears as if he'll be a great pro for ten to twelve years but not at the level the league needs to regain the casual fan.

Sure Lebron James, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, and Paul Pierce are fun to watch but you can't convince me that if these guys were white that the league wouldn't have a little bit more of an "appeal" to it. I'm aware that some people will not watch the NBA just like some will never watch Nascar or the Tour de France but pro hoops was such a phenomena after that 79 championship game. I can still see the tape of a young Bryant Gumble doing the pre game.

The early entry of players isn't the only piece of the puzzle if you're one that believes that American basketball is on the decline for some of the reasons I stated earlier. Kids have been jumping ship early for nearly 35 years. We've had black Jesus in pro basketball (Earl the Pearl Monroe) Now we need a white one. Will someone please raise Pete Maravich from the dead!!!