Fred Brown: Tale of a Tear, 1978

[In online mentions of favorite old, threadbare basketball book, Blaine Johnson’s What’s Happenin’? often makes the cut. Johnson, who covered the SuperSonics in the late-1970s for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper, shares his “revealing journey through the world of professional basketball.” Published in 1978, Johnson’s book today is a treasure trove for anyone trying to make sense of the enigmatic Bill Russell as an NBA coach. He was one complex human being. But Johnson didn’t only write a book. In November 1978, Johnson published a now-obscure profile of Seattle’s enigmatic Fred Brown in an equally obscure publication out of Beaverton, Oregon called Inside Basketball. During a recent trip to the West Coast, I stumbled upon the article and snapped it with my phone. In my haste, however, I missed the mention of a jump and the text that followed on another page. Too late to track down the final maybe 100-200 words and snap them. I’ll just post what I have and call it a condensed…

Commenting on Bubbles has been removed. Why? If you want to talk about this post, write to the author, use the comments on their blog if it has them, or reply with a "RE:" post on your own blog. Suggestions? feedback@bubbles.town