A DC Legend Dies at 82,
The Amazing Gary Mays
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Mays remains the nicest man you'll ever meet. And the toughest hombre you'll ever cross. In a city with a rich African-American basketball heritage -- home of basketball Hall of Famers Dave Bing, Earl Lloyd, Elgin Baylor and John Thompson -- Mays still stands out, largely because his life story is so unique, so preposterous, you wouldn't believe it if you saw it on a ready for cable movie.
Coach Charlie Baltimore was quoted as saying, the boy is a terrific athlete, and there is nothing he can't do. His eye on the floor is good and his handicap has not hurt his passing nor dribbling. Whenever the players pass him the ball he presses it up against his short arm, takes aim and then pushes up his shot with right arm. He stands 5'10 inches tall and 170 pounds.
Charlie Baltimore teams won 10 out 11 City Championships between 1943 and 1955.Armstong was winning games at a clip of .814, real dominance in a city full of basketball talent.
Gary Mays greatest basketball moment: The Armstrong-Spingarn post tournament game, the one everybody still remembers. A contest that later earned Mays an honorary Spingarn letterman's jacket. During the regular season, Baylor had dropped 34 and 45 points on Mays' squad. (see attachment with box score of Elgin scoring 34 points.)
Before the rematch, Armstrong coach Charlie Baltimore told his players they would employ a box-and-one defense. No one knew what he was talking about. He then pulled his team captain aside.
Gary, you're the chaser. You got Elgin. When he goes to the bathroom, you stay with him.
What do you mean, coach?
I mean that I want you to be so close that when he goes to the bathroom, he can't [expletive].
Mays studies a newspaper clipping. The box score reads: Baylor -- 18 points. The accompanying article says that Armstrong never trailed by more than four points, and that the game was tied at the start of the fourth quarter.
The whole game, I rubbed Elgin with my nub. He couldn't stand that."
... with 25 seconds left, William Burton stole the ball from Spingarn and passed to Terry Hachett, who scored to win the game."
Gary Mays was truly an Amazing Man!
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