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RIP to the greatest Bullet/Wizard of all time.

My favorite player ever, inextricably tied to my fandom. A big loss for the franchise.

Thanks Wes!

Holy crap! This sucks! Wes was a God!

Oh no. So sad to hear it. The soul of the franchise as I was growing up. A 6'7 center who was the only player other than Wilt Chamberlain... ever... to win both MVP and ROY in the same year. I didn't get to see him smile enough.

One of my all time favorite players. I loved the style of his game.

This Bucks fan is sad today.

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Respects to Wizard Nation and to all whose lives Unseld touched.

I've created a memorial thread on the GB; if any of y'all are so inclined, cruise by and share a memory.

GBOAT

Greatest outlet passer of all time. Indisputable.

This is a gut punch....

He was sick for a long time. I know he was barely making appearances the last few years.

One of the GOATs of basketball!

Man, this news sucks. RIP Wes Unseld. Forever a Bullets/Wizards legend.

montestewart wrote:My favorite player ever, inextricably tied to my fandom. A big loss for the franchise.

Thanks Wes!

Mine too. Can't say I like the picture; the one Rex Chapman has is better. I will always remember him pulling down a two handed rebound straight into the outlet pass without ever bringing the ball down to his waist. Never seen anyone else do that as consistently or accurately. Tried to teach it to my players without success.

A sad loss of a truly great player -- was anyone else ever RoY & MVP the same year?

It's gratifying to see the outpourings of love & respect for him.

Horrible news. A smart player, a team first player and a fierce competitor.
My favorite Bullet. Oh, I do have one quick story to share which is speaking
to him briefly once perhaps at halftime of a game when he was the analyst
on the broadcast. This must have been not too long after his retirement since
when I spoke to him, I said he should be in the HoF. He just guffawed at that.
And f course there was no question he would be in the HoF. He was selected
to be in the 50 greatest when that time came.

A humble person who was truly a great person. RIP.

RIP KING

I haven't had much to say lately, but I had to comment on Wes. This was not a surprise, if you saw his video on the 40th anniversary of the 1978 NBA championship team.

Personally, didn't know him but left a great impression on Baltimore, because he lived there and he and his wife established a school there. I also attended his last two basketball camps at UMBC in the early eighties. I remember asking him some question about Gus Johnson, and how great he was. Of course, as a kid, I was more interested in his backboard breaking dunks than his defense or rebounding.

He was larger than life, but as good a player as he was, he was a better human. Listening to local Baltimore radio today, there were countless stories about how good of a person he was and the guy hadn't played in Baltimore since the early seventies I'd rather not remember him for his stints as a coach and a GM, when Abe asked him to help out. It didn't work out, but it didn't take him down a notch to me as being Mr. Washington/Baltimore Bullets.

I've had quibbles over the years about stat freaks and in some ways, I've become one my self. But you can never define his career by stats. He was unselfish to a fault and did things for the team. Few players would do that today and yet still be recognized as great. Underrated as a defender. He wasn't just a great rebounder, outlet passer and screen setter. Oh yeah, he was the all-time assists leader before John Wall broke that a few years back. I also wonder how he would have played today in the PNR if his knees were stronger. If science was better back then and having bad knees wasn't a death sentence to your NBA career, he would have played 3-4 more years and probably would have averaged closer to 12-13ppg and a few more rebounds.

The sad news keeps coming. RIP 41.

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Unmistakably the greatest Bullet/Wizard of all time.