Jumpin’Joe: The Story Of Marvin Bagley’s Grandfather

[84Duke]

Apologies if this has been posted before. Joe Caldwell was quite a player and labor leader during the years leading to the ABA/NBA merger. It’s a long read, and sometimes a sad one, but well worth the time. The financial success of today’s NBA players rests on the shoulders of fighters like Joe Caldwell.

https://victoryjournal.com/stories/jumpin-joe/

[wobatus]

Apologies if this has been posted before. Joe Caldwell was quite a player and labor leader during the years leading to the ABA/NBA merger. It’s a long read, and sometimes a sad one, but well worth the time. The financial success of today’s NBA players rests on the shoulders of fighters like Joe Caldwell.

https://victoryjournal.com/stories/jumpin-joe/

Good article, thanks.

I remember him with the Cougars. Early on he played with some bad Cougar teams with Bob Verga, Randy Denton, and other ACC players like Larry Miller and Vann Williford.

The 1972-73 and '73-4 teams were the ones I first recall and they were really good. They won the ABA eastern Division but lost to Artis Gilmore's Kentucky Colonels 4-3 (the Colonels went on to lose to the Pacers ABA dynasty, 4-3). Caldwell gave up his starring role (he was 3rd leading scorer at 16 ppg) but the team went really deep. Billy Cunningham was great in '73. Mike Lewis was playing pretty well but I think got hurt. Tom Owens from South Carolina. Previs and Wuycik deep bench. Gene Littles, who went to High Point. Ed Manning, Danny's dad, was back up center. Non-locals like Mack Calvin, who went on to play in the NBA, and one of the fastest players ever, Steve "Snapper" Jones, Ted "Hound Dog" McClain. A really fun team to watch.

[Truth&Justise]

Like his grandfather, Bagley can absolutely fly. But he’s also 6’11”, a wholly modern big with guard-like skills—albeit one still looking for a consistent jumper. Asked how Bagley’s abilities compare to his own, Caldwell bursts out laughing. “He's twice as fast as I was. He's twice the size that I am. I can't do the stuff that he's done. He can put his chin on the damn basket. I used to put the back of my head on it. He's just unbelievable as far as a specimen of a basketball player.”

Caldwell has been dreaming about a coda to his career that involves Marvin. It goes something like this: Maybe, after two stellar years in the NBA, Bagley will earn a spot the 2020 Olympic team. Caldwell can then return to Tokyo alongside his grandson. He even sometimes imagines being joined by the surviving members of 1964 team so they can enjoy one final moment in the basketball spotlight. Maybe then he could finally put away all the documents from his trials, and be remembered for the player he was, and not someone for whom the NBA’s labor victories came far too late. Maybe then, “40 years later, you can tell the world how good you were,” he says


Great read. Would love to see grandfather and grandson in Tokyo in 2020, hopefully both as gold medalists.

[jv001]

Good article, thanks.

I remember him with the Cougars. Early on he played with some bad Cougar teams with Bob Verga, Randy Denton, and other ACC players like Larry Miller and Vann Williford.

The 1972-73 and '73-4 teams were the ones I first recall and they were really good. They won the ABA eastern Division but lost to Artis Gilmore's Kentucky Colonels 4-3 (the Colonels went on to lose to the Pacers ABA dynasty, 4-3). Caldwell gave up his starring role (he was 3rd leading scorer at 16 ppg) but the team went really deep. Billy Cunningham was great in '73. Mike Lewis was playing pretty well but I think got hurt. Tom Owens from South Carolina. Previs and Wuycik deep bench. Gene Littles, who went to High Point. Ed Manning, Danny's dad, was back up center. Non-locals like Mack Calvin, who went on to play in the NBA, and one of the fastest players ever, Steve "Snapper" Jones, Ted "Hound Dog" McClain. A really fun team to watch.

I remember those teams and players well. The Joe Caldwell that I met back then was not the one that was pictured in those articles. Joe was not afraid to laugh at himself. Matter of fact he often made fun of himself. I really didn't know the story of his life after the Cougars and certainly didn't know MBIII was his grandson. I'll be rooting even harder for him now. GoDuke!

[wobatus]

I remember those teams and players well. The Joe Caldwell that I met back then was not the one that was pictured in those articles. Joe was not afraid to laugh at himself. Matter of fact he often made fun of himself. I really didn't know the story of his life after the Cougars and certainly didn't know MBIII was his grandson. I'll be rooting even harder for him now. GoDuke!

Although it doesn't paint Caldwell in a flattering light (although he doesn't come off like Barnes or John Brisker, who seems to have ended up as a sidekick to Idi Amin and murdered in Uganda), Terry Pluto's Loose Balls about the ABA is a great read. And a loose inspiration for the Will Ferrell movie Semi-Pro. Ferrell is kind of like a combination of Johhny Neumann and Wendell Ladner in that one:


http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/johnny-neumann-of-the-memphis-tams-poses-for-a-portrait-news-photo/631025848?esource=SEO_GIS_CDN_Redirect#johnny-neumann-of-the-memphis-tams-poses-for-a-portrait-circa-1974-in-picture-id631025848

http://www.remembertheaba.com/TributeMaterial/PlayerMaterial/WendellLadner/LadnerPoster.jpg

[jv001]

Although it doesn't paint Caldwell in a flattering light (although he doesn't come off like Barnes or John Brisker, who seems to have ended up as a sidekick to Idi Amin and murdered in Uganda), Terry Pluto's Loose Balls about the ABA is a great read. And a loose inspiration for the Will Ferrell movie Semi-Pro. Ferrell is kind of like a combination of Johhny Neumann and Wendell Ladner in that one:


http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/johnny-neumann-of-the-memphis-tams-poses-for-a-portrait-news-photo/631025848?esource=SEO_GIS_CDN_Redirect#johnny-neumann-of-the-memphis-tams-poses-for-a-portrait-circa-1974-in-picture-id631025848

http://www.remembertheaba.com/TributeMaterial/PlayerMaterial/WendellLadner/LadnerPoster.jpg

If I remember correctly, Wendell was killed in a plane crash while still a very young man. GoDuke!