Скачать или смотреть Paul Westphal (Champion) Puts on a H-O-R-S-E Clinic vs. John Williamson (1978)

Aired February 26, 1978 - Five-time all-star and Basketball Hall of Famer Paul Westphal dipped deep into his bag of tricks in eliminating Super John Williamson in a 1978 game of H-O-R-S-E. Westphal, who wasn't above unleashing a 360 jumpshot under duress in the NBA Finals (   • Paul Westphal's 360 Jumpshot/Leaner (NBA F...  ), was broadly considered ambidextrous, giving himself a literal hand-up in a trick shot competition. The two-handed tomahawk dunk was just the icing on top... and maybe just a smidge unfair for a 6-foot-2 brick house to replicate.

Westphal went on to advance to the final round of the season-long H-O-R-S-E competition, setting the stage for a matchup with Pete Maravich. Alas, when Maravich bowed out due to injury, CBS scrambled to replace the final round with a blind free throw shooting contest, pitting Westphal against "The Unknown Bag Man" (spoiler: it was Rick Barry). To his credit, Westphal knocked down his free throw—in street clothes—on his first attempt, claiming his H-O-R-S-E championship and a $15,000 check along the way.

Westphal's Win:    • Paul Westphal - Rick Barry - John Havlicek...  

One year following a season-long dunk contest (won by Darnell Hillman), H-O-R-S-E was the CBS' next big idea for the 1977-78 campaign. As for why these events were season-long: the tourney-style format usually hinged on waiting players and/or teams were in the region to host the contest at the Omni Megaplex. It was the "we'll play whenever we get around to it" technique.

Darnell Hillman's dunk contest:    • Darnell Hillman - The Very First NBA Slam ...