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"God couldn't go one-on-one with Earl.''--Former teammate Ray Scott on Earl Monroe. Earl Monroe of the New York Knicks was the most exciting basketball player of his era, and perhaps of all time. Even the most creative of modern-day scorers and playmakers would not have outshone "The Pearl" when it came to inventing new ways to put the ball in the hoop or set up his teammates. "If I don't know [what I'm going to do with the ball]," Monroe once said, "I'm quite sure the guy guarding me doesn't know either."
On the playground courts of a rough South Philadelphia neighborhood, Monroe needed every ounce of creativity to get his shots against older, bigger and burlier foes. Juking his opponents out of their sneakers became his trademark. Bill Bradley once called him "the ultimate playground player." At Winston-Salem State in North Carolina-a school he led to a Division II national title-a local sportswriter once described Monroe's points as "Earl's Pearls." The name stuck.
Monroe, drafted second overall, won Rookie of the Year honors with the Baltimore Bullets in 1967-68. A 56-point game against the Lakers left little doubt about his ability to thrive in the NBA with a "playground" style. His bump-and-spin moves to the hoop and unorthodox shooting stroke were good enough to lead the Bullets from cellar-dwellers to division champs in his second season.
By 1971, Monroe had the Bullets in the Finals, where they lost to Lew Alcindor and the Milwaukee Bucks. The Pearl's most memorable playoff moments, though, came against Walt Frazier and the Knicks. Each time they squared off, the Monroe-Frazier match-up was the marquee attraction.
Imagine the stir in Baltimore, then, when Monroe was traded to the hated Knicks in November 1971. It took Monroe a while to adjust to being only half of a most amazing backcourt duo. Once he and Frazier developed a chemistry, there was little opponents could do to stop them. They beat the Lakers for the 1973 championship. Monroe continued to thrive through the late 1970s and retired with a bum knee in 1980.
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