The Handle Podcast – Greg Kite: 12/02/15
By Reinis Lacis (@LamarMatic)
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Greg Kite, a member of, perhaps, the best NBA team ever – the 1985-86 Boston Celtics, came on the podcast to talk about his interesting pre-NBA career, the mid-80s Celtics and the early 90s Orlando Magic.
Topics discussed in the podcast:
Greg’s idols while growing up – the University of Houston Cougars and the Houston Rockets, in particular a time he met Elvin Hayes;
Being a part of a lawsuit about Texas high school players not being able to go to basketball camps and return to play in HS, Rudy Tomjanovich and Dave Cowens being involved in that;
How he chose to attend Brigham Young and a fun tidbit about Kentucky going for Ralph Sampson after they had already landed Sam Bowie;
His days at BYU, a memorable 1981 NCAA tournament run;
Joining the star-studded Boston Celtics and being willing to work hard and be patient about his playing time;
A Larry Bird quote about his work ethic and the 1985-86 bench vs. starters scrimmages;
The Celtics always looking at their record, wanting to be the best and only losing one game at home that year to the Steve Colter-lead Blazers;
Being the star of Game 3 in the 1987 Finals and Greg’s abilities when defending guys like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the post;
Celtics inside jokes – Cedric Maxwell possibly coming up with “smothered chicken”;
Starting 82 games for the Orlando Magic, some Brian Williams/Bison Dele memories;
What rookie Shaquille O’Neal was like, a fun stat about his dunking;
Greg’s life after basketball – raising a family of 10 children, being the commissioner of the Florida Basketball Association and some of his other activities nowadays.
The media related to the podcast:
Danny Ainge‘s game-winning lay-up against Notre Dame in the 1981 NCAA tournament:
The talked-about Game 3 of the 1987 Finals (which I unfortunately don’t have in my collection) where Kite energized Boston for their first win in the series. You can see it in full length on YouTube starting at here, while you can check out this particular segment of the game to see Greg Kite in action.
Go to the 6:38 mark in the video to see Kite stopping Kareem in the post and blocking Magic Johnson‘s fast break layup attempt on the next possession.
Some interesting snippets of the interview:
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Thanks to Greg Kite for his time and his insightful answers which made for a great podcast episode!
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