Evening Observer

Carter Didn’t Care Anymore

The newspaper headline was one that stays in your mind for a lifetime.

It asked, “What if McAdoo McAdoesn’t?”

It ran about 10 years ago and the story was about Bob McAdoo, then with the National Basketball Association

Buffalo Braves and in the middle of a renegotiated contract hassle that touched the backbone of sports.

His contract wasn’t satisfactory, to Bob, and his play on the court wasn’t satisfactory to the Braves or their fans.

Bob McAdoo has made the rounds in the NBA and this year appears to have gained some measure of success helping the Los Angeles Lakers to the NBA championship.

“I’m glad to see what happened to Bob this year” said George Carter recently.

“I’m glad for what he die for the team. He was able to blend in and win. That’s what it’s all about.

George Carter knows. He spent seven years in the NBA and old American Basketball Association trying. Then it was 2 ½ years in France.

But the brass ring eluded the 1963 Silver Creek Central and 1967 St. Bonaventure University graduate. And it’s still a dream away today.

George Carter graduated from Bona as one of its all-time top scorers, scoring more than 400 points in each of three seasons.

After being drafted by the Detroit Pistons he was drafted by Uncle Sam and spent two years in the Army. He returned to pro basketball and played in the ABA for Oakland, Washington, Virginia, Pittsburgh and the New York Nets.

“It was something I always wanted to do he admits. “The first two or three years I really loved the game.”

At first George enjoyed pro basketball. He averaged around 19 points a game, his Virginia Squires continually reached the playoffs and in 1969-70 played in the All-Star game.

But mental wear and tear that has plagued McAdoo through a jaded career hit Carter.

“There were so many different situations. I was getting traded so much, for their benefit, not mine. It’s not that I wasn’t doing the job.”

“The teams I played on made the playoffs. But I was getting traded to teams on the bottom. It was getting to me. After a while I didn’t care anymore.”

And that was the most frustrating part of pro basketball for the sociology major-not caring.

”I was getting with teams that weren’t doing the kind of things to win ballgames. After a while it was kind of frustrating, especially if you’re an above average ballplayer.”

“It became a job, I didn’t care anymore. They didn’t seem to care. I’d just go in and get my 20 to 22 points and seven or eight rebounds,” recalls the embittered Carter.

What now? “ I haven’t touched a basketball in five years” says the 6-5 former power forward who scored 928 points in his career at Silver Creek.

“I’m into other things working for myself. Basically that’s my thing right now” he said.

George rarely comes home these days, to see his father George Carter Sr. still living in Dunkirk or his mother, Mrs. Elvira Jones in Buffalo.

“I’m an independent person. I’m looking for a job with some kind of future. So far I’m not able to get a job to do anything for me”

What happens when McAdoo McAdoesn’t? Ask George Carter. He’ll tell you one of the more bizarre sports stories in 100 years of EVENING OBSERVER sport history.


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