Crossover: Celebrating Greatness, w/ Bob Pettit, Elvin Hayes & Rick Barry

Three NBA legends join the show to discuss their era vs. today's game and more.

On the Friday edition, Howard Beck welcomes three legends from the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team: Bob Pettit, Elvin Hayes and Rick Barry. They discuss the state of today’s game, player empowerment, guarding Wilt and Russell and much more.

The following transcript is an excerpt from The Crossover NBA podcast. Listen to the full episode on podcast players everywhere or on SI.com.

Howard Beck: What's up, it's The Crossover Pod, Friday edition. I'm Howard Beck, senior writer for Sports Illustrated. Fantastic show for you today. Not one, not two ... I sound like LeBron James ... but three hall of Famers, all of them part of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team. They are Bob Pettit, an 11-time All-Star and two-time MVP and NBA champion in 1958 with the St. Louis Hawks. Followed by Elvin Hayes, a 12-time All-Star and NBA champion in 1978 with the Washington Bullets. And lastly, Rick Barry, 12-time All-Star and NBA champion in 1975 with the Golden State Warriors. Rick in particular, as always had a lot to say, but a lot of fun stuff too with Mr. Hayes and Mr. Pettit. Had the honor and the pleasure of sitting down with all three of these gentlemen during All-Star Weekend in Cleveland, many thanks to the National Basketball Retired Players Association, also known as “The Legends,” for setting us up. Shout out to Julio Manteiga who does a great job over there. Next week's Friday Crossover, by the way, will also feature a legend and member of that 75th Anniversary Team, but that's a more extended conversation. I'm just going to leave that as a teaser. Won't tell you who yet, but you do not want to miss that one either... Okay, my chats with three of the greatest players in NBA history are coming up.

Howard Beck: Now very pleased to be joined by an 11-time All-Star, two-time MVP, member of the 75th Anniversary Team, Bob Pettit. Bob, thanks for joining me.

Bob Pettit: It's a pleasure to be here. It's a beautiful day in Cleveland if you don't step outside.

Howard Beck: We are inside, we are safe from the ice and snow. When you come back to an event like this, when you get a chance to be immersed in today's NBA again, what about today's NBA strikes you the most?

Bob Pettit: What strikes me is watching these players, they are so great today. I mean, we had great players and I think the players that we had back in the fifties and sixties, you know, they could play in it. Some guys like Oscar, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Bill Russell, Wilt, those guys could play anytime, anywhere. But there were only eight teams in the league when I played. Today there are 30-something NBA teams and the talent is so incredible. The three-point shot, I think, has added a lot to the game. The fans seem to love it and they get all excited about it and you know, it's just, it's different. And one of the main things is the media coverage. When you look here, we played back in the first All-Star game, it was 1955, I think in New York as I recall, and you might have one interview and one sportswriter there that wanted to talk to you. But basically, it's so different today. And it's so important today to the psyche—if that's the right word—of the American people. They love professional basketball, they love the NBA, they love these great players and they've become like folk heroes to these young men and old men, some of the ladies really enjoy them. So there's a whole different atmosphere today. And I enjoy coming back, and occasionally, like this weekend, I'll have a chance to visit with some of the guys that I played with and against. There are not many that are still living, I was one of the ambassadors selected for a particular era of time, and I think the main thing was I'm still alive. A lot of the players that played in that era, unfortunately, didn't make it. But, you know, it's a great time to come, a great time to see all these great players and to attend to different functions and I'm excited.

Listen to The Crossover NBA Podcast