FORGOTTEN PLAYER OF THE MOMENT
ORLANDO WOOLRIDGE
(By PHIL RIPPA)
Request by JOEL MARTIN
It’s hard to imagine how Orlando Woolridge is forgotten. I mean one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players of all-time. Huh? What? You mean he wasn’t put on the list just because he played with Michael Jordan?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Crap, well that just changes everything. Well, he was prettier than Scottie Pippen and I am pretty sure he would have not asked out of a playoff game with mere seconds left.

Honestly, sadly, Orlando Woolridge (#6) is another member of the Class of 1981 that I know too well. Polish Kelly Tripucka (#12) I already fawned all over. And eventually I know I have to talk about Tom Chambers (#8) and Herb Williams (#14) and Danny Schayes (#13) and Rolando Blackman (#9)… well, I can talk about him if I ever review the comical NBA All-Star Challenge game I just found for my original Gameboy. Heck, if someone paid me, I could even babble about how the Warriors comically drafted Yasutaka Okayama in the 8th Round.

Orlando Woolridge is probably the first guy I have tried to write about that there is no way I could fully do justice too in 8, 10, 15 paragraphs. So on some levels y'all are going to have to do your own research and share your own stories. The weird, the funny, the great, whatever. If this was a PowerPoint presentation, the bullet points we would be covering would be



I mean how can I sum up Woolridge’s love of coke when you can find things like this from HoopsAnalyst (Poor poor Ricky Davis).

Cleveland Cavaliers
12/15    Acquire Tony Battie, Kedrick Brown and Eric Williams from Boston for Ricky Davis, Chris Mihm, Michael Stewart and a second-round pick
 
This deal is being portrayed as another case of management dumping the would-be-star to protect the young shining star.  Analogies are being portrayed between the deal that sent troubled Orlando Woolridge out of Chicago reputedly to protect a young Michael Jordan.  This isn't quite a perfect analogy.  Jordan was already 24, and an established star, when Woolridge was dealt.  Further, Woolridge's problems ran much deeper than Davis'.  Davis was a ballhog and complained a lot, Woolridge had a serious drug problem.  In fact when the Nets got Woolridge, management wandered into his hotel room one night only to find a pile of drugs and veritable chemical factory (presumably for freebasing).  Nets management told no one but of the discovery and instead tried to deal him.  The plan didn't work and Woolridge's problem came to light.  (On a side note, Woolridge was able to turn his life around and is remarkably well spoken guy these days).

Actually, everyone and their mother seems to steal the Ricky Davis is Orlando Woolridge comparison. The internet likes the ease of cut & paste. It’s like the Davis/Woolridge joke is Veteran Presence and the NBA blogs are Football Outsiders. Poor poor Bill.

Anyway - to sum up. Orlando Woolridge was great but was done in by demons and his body. Scottie Pippen sucks. He likes to coach the ladies and do lines off their chests.
Possibly the Greatest Thing Ever (Just ignore the Jordan fanboyism and the background music) http://members.iinet.net.au/~jchong8/1985slamdunk/1985slamdunk.htm

Orlando Woolridge’s sad Wikipedia page

Orlando Woolridge's Basketball Reference Page