The Spirit of the 76ers

¹²³ · Mar 10, 2009

Nice interview with Harvey Pollack at NBA.com

One legendary Philadelphia institution is sadly closing its doors while another one is still thriving.

While the Sixers' fans are saying goodbye to the venerable Spectrum Friday night when Philadelphia hosts the Bulls, Harvey Pollack, the team's Director of Statistical information, will be at his familiar spot courtside tracking information much like he has done for the past 62 years.

Pollack, who celebrates his 87th birthday on March 9, first served as the assistant publicity director for the Philadelphia Warriors. He holds the distinct honor of being the only individual to work in the NBA in its inaugural season (1946-47) who is still employed by a team today.

The Sixers' position is just one of many for Pollack, who overseas the stat crew for the Philadelphia Wings of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League and recently completed his 63rd season as the lead statistician of Temple's basketball team, a responsibility he also holds for the school's football team. Pollack also writes a weekly syndicated entertainment column for a local newspaper.

Yet statistics is Pollack's claim to fame. That's what landed him a distinguished place in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002 as a John Bunn Award recipient. No one in the field of statistics has had a greater impact in the history of the game than Pollack. Pollack was keeping such statistics as minutes played, blocked shots, offensive and defensive rebounds, steals and turnovers long before the league made it part of the official boxscore.

Pollack's annual Statistical Yearbook was recently released and includes such gems as the game's best clutch player, the distance of every field goal, who leads the league in every dunk imaginable (i.e. alley-oops, driving dunks, put-back dunks) and which NBA players have the most tattoos.

Pollack spoke with NBA.com's John Hareas and discussed the nuances of his Yearbook, along with why Wilt Chamberlain was the greatest player he's ever seen (and the Big Dipper's critique of Michael Jordan), his all-time Starting Five and how he's about to enter the Guinness Book of World Records.
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The Spirit of the 76ers

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