/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66974229/74937584.jpg.0.jpg)
Bob Lanier was an outstanding center in the NBA from 1970 to 1984. At 6-10 and 250, he would be an average sized player by today’s standards but in his day, he was a dominant center.
When you see this video, what may jump out is first that he’s a thick 250 and second, though he bumps and grinds a bit, he’s a finesse player.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar owned (and to an extent retired) the hook shot but Lanier had a nice left-handed hook shot too.
Told as a youngster he was too clumsy to play basketball, he went on to play at St. Bonaventure and then spent 10 years with the Detroit Pistons and four more with the Milwaukee Bucks.
He wasn’t as talented as some of his contemporaries - Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, Willis Reed - but he was nonetheless very good. Watching him maneuver in the lane is a real pleasure.
Lanier was also famous for having very big feet: he wore a size 22 sneaker.