A Knick You Knew: Marvin Webster

Ray Marcano tells us about a supremely talented former Knick who got the short end of the stick.

Good morning! As a reminder, Kris’ recap of last night’s Summer League game will be combined with his recap of this weekend’s game, and will hit your inbox on Monday. Today, we’ll enjoy the first piece of the summer from the one and only Ray Marcano, but first we do have a few bits of news. The Knicks announced that Josh Hart underwent a procedure to his right ring finger to repair an injury sustained during the postseason. On the Roommates pod, Hart said he sustained the injury in the Boston series. He’ll resume basketball activities later in the summer. Also according to Begley, one reason we haven’t seen a Mikal Bridges extension yet is because the Giannis situation is not yet “fully settled.” As Begs says, “When he does extend, I think that would tell you that Giannis is put to bed, off the table. That's one factor at play here in terms of the timing.”

A Knick You Knew: Marvin Webster

by Ray Marcano

This next “Knick you Knew” was a towering man with promise who succumbed to life’s arbitrary unfairness.

Marvin Webster was born on April 15, 1952, in Baltimore, Maryland. He played for Edmondson High School before enrolling at Morgan State in 1971. At 7’1, he was a dominant force and led the Bears to the NCAA Division II championship in 1974. That season, he averaged eight blocks per game, which earned him his nickname --- The Human Eraser.

In 1975, he was taken in the first round in the NBA (Atlanta) and the ABA (Denver) drafts. He signed with the Nuggets, a move that shocked the NBA, according to a story in Bleacher Report. Webster was supposed to be a no-doubt superstar. His signing so concerned NBA executives that they finally perceived the upstart league as a threat and entered preliminary merger discussions, the report said.

But the first of Webster’s issues surfaced during his first training camp.