Greatest trade of all time?
Years
ago I was fortunate to follow the Lakers on radio and tv (pre cable days), and was
treated to some of the best centers of all time. How did the Lakers obtain these two great
centers?
Wilt Chamberlain:
Per Wikipedia, “. . . General Manager Jack Hannum
decided to radically change the
Sixers by trading for Archie Clark,
Darrall Imhoff and Jerry Chambers . . . . This qualifies as one
of the most lopsided NBA trades ever, as the Sixers
traded the most dominant player of his generation
for three role players
. . . After the
trade, Chamberlain was teamed with future Hall-of-Famers
Elgin Baylor
and Jerry West,
creating one of the most prolific basketball scoring machines of all time . . .
.
Chamberlain and West would win their first and only Lakers title in 1972 . . .
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (formerly known as Lew Alcindor):
Per Wikipedia, “. . . With the addition of Oscar Robertson,
66 victories in 1970-71, . . . . the
Bucks won the NBA championship, . . . In
1975, the Bucks traded him
and reserve center Walt Wesley to the Los Angeles Lakers for center Elmore Smith,
guard Brian Winters,
and rookie "blue chippers" Dave Myers and Junior Bridgeman. The trade paved the way for a second
Abdul-Jabbar dynasty as the Lakers went on to become one of the most dominant
teams of the 1980's,
appearing in the finals eight times and winning five NBA championships . . .
What trade was greater than the two listed above?
Let’s see what the Bible has to tell us . . .
Matthew 27:11-31 (NIV):
Jesus
Before Pilate
11 Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the
governor asked him, "Are you
the king of the Jews?" "Yes, it is
as you say," Jesus replied.
12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the
elders, he gave no answer.
13 Then Pilate asked him, "Don't you hear the
testimony they are bringing against you?"
14 But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single
charge—to the great amazement of the
governor.
15 Now it was the
governor's custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the
crowd.
16 At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas.
17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them,
"Which one do you want me to
release to you: Barabbas,
or Jesus who is called Christ?"
18 For he knew it was out of
envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.
19 While Pilate was
sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't
have anything to do with that
innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a
dream because of him."
20 But the chief
priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas
and to
have Jesus executed.
21 "Which of
the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor.
"Barabbas," they answered.
22 "What shall
I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked.
They all answered, "Crucify him!"
23 "Why?
What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder,
"Crucify him!"
24 When Pilate saw
that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar
was starting,
he took water and washed his hands
in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this
man's blood," he said. "It is your
responsibility!"
25 All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!"
26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him
over
to be crucified.
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
27 Then the governor's soldiers took
Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole
company of soldiers around him.
28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,
29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set
it on his head. They put a staff in
his right hand and knelt in front of him and
mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!"
they said.
30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him
on the head again and again.
31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and
put his own clothes on him.
Then they led him away to crucify
him.
The Crucifixion story begins at Matthew 27:32+
. . . Jesus
offers us a better trade.
Questions:
-How did the Lakers obtain these two great centers?
-Did you ever trade baseball cards as a kid?
-What “trade” in your life do you believe has impacted you the most?
-What “trade” did Jesus make in our behalf (Matthew 27:32+)?
-What trade do you consider the greatest of all time?
References:
Information on this document is from websites accessed on Oct. 27, 2006.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilt_Chamberlain
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kareem_AbdulJabbar
http://www.jordanextreme.com/photo15/photo15.htm