Bonzaaaiiiii. I used to yell it all the time, post someone up, take one or two dribbles, turn over my right shoulder, plant my left foot, jump back and launch a fadeaway. It felt so good whenever it would fall, the kind of shot you always marvel over because it appears so easy yet almost always promises to be impossible, the kind of shot that makes you feel like you can do anything when you’re young.
I wasn’t much of a post player, even when I was one of the tallest kids. I wanted to play on the perimeter, shoot wing jumpers, pass from the high post, bring the ball up. But I changed pretty quickly, if only for a short time. It was an obsession. Almost overnight, I was backing people down, playing physical and forgetting about the rest of my game. I wanted to post up and finish with up-and-unders and fallaways. Who knew some guy named Bonzi would be the cause?
Bonzi Wells came and went like a comet. Out of nowhere, he was getting big minutes – and dominating for very brief stretches – in the Western Conference Finals. Two years later, he was dropping 17 a night for a playoff team, and went on to score 45 in a playoff game against Dallas. It all started during the Blazers 2000 playoff run. He got big minutes in a few games against Utah in the second round, and then really picked it up in the WCF against the Lakers.
The Blazers brought him in for short stretches, and he would destroy any wing that attempted to guard him in the post. It got bad enough that in Game 2, a guy who averaged 8.8 points during the regular season was commanding double teams.
I saw him as a difference-maker. I disliked the Lakers, and loved that Portland team. Their bench was good enough to win 40 games on their own, and the starters rotated between sly and witty (Scottie Pippen), fun to watch (Arvydas Sabonis) and unpredictably awesome (a young Rasheed Wallace). Bonzi nearly was the difference, his game so raw and non-versatile that he rarely ever left the comfort of the mid-post. When he came in, you knew what would happen…
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My All “I don’t know why I love these dudes” team
PG: Alvin Williams
SG: Bonzi Wells
SF: Glen Rice
PF: Al Harrington
C: Matt Geiger
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Bonzi was one of those guys that you knew you probably shouldn’t love, but you always did. Every night you would check his numbers, then how it all affected his averages. If he went cold for a few nights in a row, and his scoring dropped, you were heated. He was that guy for me, and I will never understand why. We played nothing alike. I couldn’t identify with him. Yet sometimes, all it takes is an introduction at the right time and you’re hooked.
Bonzi was always one of my favorite players and attempting to pinpoint why was impossible. He wasn’t overly exciting. He had a rep for being a troublemaker off the court. Once he became a full-time starter in the NBA, his teams never won in the playoffs. He was good, but never great.
As he became an everyday player, he lost a little bit of that edge too. He was still a beast in the post, but he started to drift to the perimeter, took more threes and jump shots, and didn’t stick to his money maker as much. I liked him better when he did less.
As I got older, I drifted out to the perimeter as well. But whenever I do get into the post, and start throwing up jump hooks or fadeaways or drop-steps, there’s still a part of me that wants to shout Bonzaaaiiii.
Which random players do you always find yourself watching?
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