Earl Strom Stories

[estrom]

The Basketball Hall of Fame recently started posting acceptance speeches on youtube. I thought the folks on this forum would enjoy my speech from May 1995 for my father's induction.

Earl Strom's Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Speech - YouTube

I was also interviewed by HBO for their upcoming documentary "Sport In America" which should air sometime in the summer of 2013. I talked about my memories of Game 4 of the 1987 Finals and my father's history in the Celtics/Lakers rivalry. We'll see if I make it on screen, or end up on the cutting room floor.

[tmagan]

How about Game seven of the 1988 Finals -- Strom and O'Donnell, probably the two greatest NBA officials ever. I've always wondered how many other Game seven's in the 1980's he would have worked had there been more (besides 1984).

I am also wondering who the alternate official was for Game seven of the 1988 Finals?

[estrom]

Thanks for the compliment about my father and Jake. I believe Ed Rush was the alternate in 1988 for Game 7.

A few things about Game 7's in the finals. I read an article about Joey Crawford in the NY Times which said he has worked 3 of these games (true) and that this is a record (false). Mendy Rudolph worked six Game 7's in the finals which is the record. My father worked five in the NBA (1966, 1969, 1978, 1984 and 1988) and one in the ABA (1971) so he sort of is tied with Mendy. Plus I can make the case that if my father hadn't jumped to the ABA he would have worked the Game 7's in 1970 and 1974 with Mendy instead of Richie Powers.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by estrom

All 50 stories about my father's career are now on Facebook.

Thanks for posting these ... looking forward to reading them. For a long time (since I joined Facebook 5+ years ago, actually) I've had a quote attributed to your dad under my Favorite Quotations section:

"If you ever stop to say 'What's going to happen to me if I make this call', you might as well take your whistle and shove it because that's all the respect you're giving it." — Earl Strom

[Brad]

BTW, I got the quote from his book, Calling the Shots, which was a great read ... still have it, but haven't read it since I purchased it 10 years ago or so ... need to go back and reread -- some great stories in there!