Old and New Come Together, Bittersweetly, for McAdoo

In the bittersweet career of Bob McAdoo, Friday was the most bitter and sweetest of all nights, his return to the Forum, his home for four seasons and two championships . . . as a Philadelphia 76er.

In quick order, he was presented with his most recent championship ring, got a standing ovation, was embraced at half-court by his former teammates. Then he and his fellow 76ers got mugged on the same court to the tune of 134-100. Nostalgia only goes so far.

McAdoo thought the ceremony, at least, was great. The only thing he’d have preferred was to have remained a Laker and not required one.

“‘It kind of hurt a little bit,” McAdoo said, “not being able to suit up with the team you helped win the world championship.

“But you’ve got to forget it and go on to the next phase in your life. I hope I can be the sparkplug for the 76ers, like I was for the Lakers.”

Friday night, the 76ers needed more than a sparkplug. Say, a new engine block.

By the time McAdoo got in, after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar presented him with his ring and wished him “good luck . . . but not too much good luck” and Magic Johnson and Michael Cooper led a parade out to hug him, the game was 10:21 old, and the Lakers were 13 points ahead.

Observers counting the seconds before McAdoo put up a shot were only at 22 when he received his first 76er pass and took his first 76er shot, a miss. Observers pointed out that he might have fired one off more quickly, but the Lakers had the ball part of that time.

In the rest of the first half, he went on to make 3 of 4 shots, score 8 point and take 3 rebounds. Once he put a move on Maurice Lucas, the man the Lakers dumped him for, swept by him and scored on a pretty reverse layup.

His final totals were 10 points and 5 rebounds in 21 minutes. Since he is barely a 76er--this was his Philly debut, and he hadn’t practiced with the team--these were quite acceptable numbers.

“This was the first game I’ve played since the last Boston (playoff) game,” McAdoo said. “I kind of wished I could have gotten some time to practice with the team. Because of league rules (which prohibit that during the 15 days one’s former team has a chance to match one’s offer sheet), it couldn’t be done. I had to try to get in a little bit of shape so I wouldn’t embarrass myself.”

McAdoo is now an official member of his seventh team. He needs only to put on a Bullet uniform to have played for the entire Atlantic Conference.

When the 76ers picked him up, he was lolling around his Ramsey, N.J., home, playing tennis and wondering if he’d had it in basketball. This was similar to his circumstances when the Nets dropped him and the Lakers picked him up, a 30-year-old one-time NBA Most Valuable Player whom nobody seemed to want.

“This was probably the longest time,” McAdoo said. “I went from June to February. The previous time, between the Nets and L.A., I had an injury. This time,there was no injury. I was just sitting there, waiting for a call.

“Was I bitter? In August, it bothered me, when I first found out they (Lakers) weren’t going to renew my option. . . . I thought I’d sign with someone by October. When it didn’t happen, it started to get frustrating. I started to think it could be over, because I wasn’t going to play for just anybody. After playing for an excellent team the last four years, I couldn’t settle for anyone.

“I watched the Lakers on TV in New Jersey. They looked different. With the addition of A.C. Green and Maurice, they’re still deep. They’re definitely the team to beat. They have nine players who can come in and do the job. Nine players who can start at any time.

“The Lakers were totally different than any other team I was on. They were a wild bunch of guys. Everybody was loose all the time. Pat Riley gave everybody the freedom to do their thing.

“I got to the airport here, and that’s when it really hit me. I kind of got a sad feeling. It really hit me, how much I missed the fellows. I hadn’t seen them since that last championship game.

“When the crowd gave me a standing ovation in recognition of my four years--that was the first time that had ever happened to me.”

So what if he he got it wearing a new 76er uniform? One wins some, loses some and fires some jumpers into the next phase.