Ask Sam Mailbag: The Bulls’ belief, Giannis vs. Wilt and more

Sam Smith:

I go back to the famous 1988 vice presidential debate—as if any of those can be—when Republican Dan Quayle made a John Kennedy reference and Democrat Lloyd Bentsen shot back, “Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.” It was said to win the debate for Bentsen, though Quayle to the dismay of the media became winner George Bush’s vice president.

Brodie, I knew Wilt Chamberlain, and Giannis is no Wilt Chamberlain.

Though Giannis is shooting free throws in this series like Wilt. Get back to me when Giannis scores 100 points in a game and averages 50 points per game for a season and plays more than 48 minutes per game not missing one game all season.

Plus, Wilt was an Olympic level track athlete. Who got those statistics playing against the best centers in the history of the NBA, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Nate Thurmond, Walt Bellamy, Wes Unseld, Willis Reed and Dave Cowens.

As an aside, a word about Dan Quayle, who I knew in a former time when I was a political reporter in Ft. Wayne, Ind. and covered his first campaign for Congress in the early 1970s. Primarily because the insider Washington, D.C media didn’t know him as a U.S. Senator when Bush selected him for the 1988 ticket, Quayle became much dismissed and famously reviled when he was picked up misspelling potato at an elementary school when vice president. Based on my mail, it’s not that uncommon. Anyway, Danny, as I knew him, became an American hero. Because when vice president Mike Pence was under siege during the Capitol riot a few years back, he reached out to Quayle about what he could do. Quayle said he could only follow the law and the Constitution. And all these years later maybe Dan Quayle saved the United States. But I digress and really only write this because he said we’d play golf sometime, as people say and really never mean it.

I called and am still waiting for a reply. Though it’s only bene 11 years. Oh yeah, basketball. Wilt would be leading the NBA in scoring and rebounding, if not free throw shooting.