The entire history of Latrell Sprewell’s playoff experience can be summed up in three words: Three and out. It is a history that is not lengthy, not successful and not fulfilling.
At this time of year, Sprewell is almost always preparing for life without basketball, watching as the big-time teams and players battle in the post-season, while he sits.
“You want to be a part of it,” Sprewell said. “You’re sitting there, wondering what it feels like to have fun and be out on the court in the playoffs, that’s what it’s all about.”
It hasn’t been about that for Sprewell during his seven NBA seasons. His most recent and lone taste of the playoffs was a three-game first-round appetizer in 1994, when his Warriors were swept by the Suns. Sprewell averaged 22.7 points but his scoring didn’t amount to much and he was soon back on the sideline, while others basked in the spotlight.
This coming weekend, Sprewell gets another chance to experience all that he’s missed. The Knicks last night finally gained entry into the playoffs with a 95-88 victory over the run-and-gun-and-play-no-defense Celtics at the Garden.
While others were more responsible for the outcome – Patrick Ewing and Allan Houston, and even Charlie Ward – Sprewell did his part. He scored 13 points and added six rebounds and two steals. He also electrified the crowd with back-to-back breakaway dunks in the second quarter, plays that were noticed by one famous courtside spectator.
“You need somebody as a sparkplug and I think Sprewell gets this crowd going,” said Magic Johnson, who was seated in the front row and in his playing days knew something about bringing fans to their feet. “That’s what I saw tonight. [The Knicks] don’t have a player who can get the crowd going like Sprewell, so why trade him?”
Any possible trade of Sprewell could conceivably be affected by what the lanky scoring guard does in the playoffs. If he comes up big for the Knicks, they probably will be tempted to keep him around and continue to search for ways to mesh him with Houston’s talents.
The knock on Sprewell is that he is a Western Conference type of player, meaning he’s great in the open court when the game is played at high speeds. Slow him down, though, make it a halfcourt war, and his slashing skills aren’t nearly as effective.
That’s the book on Sprewell, and he’ll have plenty to prove if the Knicks get their wish and face the hated Heat in the first round. That series will be a slugfest. Is Sprewell up to hand-to-hand combat?
“It’s my first year, but I know what it’s all about,” Sprewell said, when asked about past Knicks-Heat playoff tussles. “I definitely have a sense of what it’s like.”
Sprewell last night played as if on a pogo stick, darting here and there, not shooting especially well (4 of 14) but causing problems for the young Celtics, who have players who can score and not much else.
The playoffs will not resemble anything that went on last night, something Sprewell – five years removed from his only playoff experience – will soon learn.
“Just to be a part of it again is the biggest thing for me,” Sprewell said. “I haven’t played in a playoff game in a number of years. I’ve almost forgotten what it feels like to be on the floor during that time. I definitely can remember the importance of each possession and each game.
“It’s a sense of relief. We know we’re finally in. We’ve been wondering over the past couple of weeks if we were in or out. We’ve had some periods where we were definitely out of it and we fought back as a team to get in. We’ve had an interesting season, but we finally made it in.”