Video: Bruce Bowen's Retirement Press Conference.

[Leftyventricle]

Full Video.

http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/090903_bowen.html

[spursdotcom]

thanks :tu

:toast

[phxspurfan]

So he talked with David, Tim, Malik, Tony, Manu and Finley. Man, they treat Finley like family on the Spurs. I'll be surprised if he ends up traded.

[Spursfan092120]

thanks for the video...

HANG THE JERSEY!!

Sean and Bruce calling the games...get it done.

[DBMethos]

Nice dig at Dallas. :flag:

[angelbelow]

:toast

[jaffies]

"I've been able to play with some class guys, and I don't want to be with anybody else, as far as a guy who wants to tell the world that he just scored a 3-pointer. Yeah, everybody in the building saw that you made the 3-pointer, you don't need to cuss anybody out, or yell about the three you just hit."

:tu :tu

Bruce is the epitome of Spurs basketball.

[Thompson]

Very classy guy, I'm going to miss seeing him shutting superstars down.

[Dunc n Dave]

Nice dig at Dallas. :flag:

Bad blood with Jason the Jet Plane Terry?

[duncan228]

Thanks Spurs.com for the video. Bowen's a class act.

[xtremesteven33]

Bowen looks like he almost chokes up in the beginning....

[Fpoonsie]

I know it was "his time", more or less, but I'm really gonna miss seein him out there. [sigh]

[Summers]

Lovely presser. Good luck to Bruce. We'll miss him.

[Bender]

Thanks Spurs.com for the video.
leftyventricle

[Summers]

class act..really?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQrKIGde7Qk

I can see by everything about your post you're going to make friends here. :)

[duncan228]

leftyventricle

Thanks.

[sonic21]

thanks :tu

[timtonymanu]

i may be slow but was Bowen dissing Terry in the video? Terry is a piece of shit anyway.

[RobSM64]

Thanks Bruce for being a vital piece of Spurs Basketball during your tenure in S.A.

Now lets see #12 in the rafters

:flag:

[PopRocks]

Who's the guy in the lower right corner at the start of the video? I've seen him around; curious who he is? Anyone know?

[duncan228]

After retirement, what’s next for Bruce Bowen? (http://dimemag.com/2009/09/bruce-bowen-announces-retirement/)
By Austin Burton

Bruce Bowen
In the end, the fact that Bruce Bowen was essentially sacrificed so that the San Antonio Spurs could have a better chance at winning another championship was somewhat symbolic of what he meant to the team.

When Bowen was traded to Milwaukee this offseason as part of the deal to get Richard Jefferson (http://dimemag.com/2009/06/breaking-news-richard-jefferson-traded-to-the-spurs/), I expected he would eventually get bought out and return to the Spurs as a minimum-salary player, similar to Antonio McDyess spending five minutes on the Nuggets last year before returning to the Pistons. But realistically, there wouldn’t have been much room for Bowen in the team’s rotation, which is why he became expendable in the first place. After drawing some interest from contenders like the Celtics and Cavs, Bowen ultimately decided to walk away from the game at 38 years old, which he announced in a press conference earlier today.

“It was just about being able to say, ‘All right, it’s done,’” Bowen was quoted in the San Antonio Express-News. Bowen said he already had an audition with ESPN earlier this week, and will talk to TNT soon.

With three NBA championships, eight NBA All-Defensive selections, and always a crucial part of the Spurs’ offense with his corner threes, Bowen will go down as one of the greatest role players of his era and one of its top defenders. And, whether you think he deserves it or not, he’ll also be remembered as one of the League’s dirtiest players. He was a self-made pro, an undrafted wing out of Cal State-Fullerton who played in France and in some American minor leagues before finally getting his shot in the NBA. Eventually changing his style into a defensive lock-down specialist, Bowen found his niche and grew into a champion. And even at 38 and clearly declining, he could still get on a roster if he wanted to (http://dimemag.com/2009/09/the-denver-nuggets-need-to-make-this-move/).

Bowen isn’t a Hall of Famer, but do you think the Spurs should someday retire #12 in his honor?

[DPG21920]

There is nothing to say except Bruce is a pimp.

[Chillen]

So he talked with David, Tim, Malik, Tony, Manu and Finley. Man, they treat Finley like family on the Spurs. I'll be surprised if he ends up traded.

Finley is a great Spur, a leader on and off the court and helped them win a championship in 2007 and I hope he's able to help lead them to one in 2010. His shot is off and on, but he knows the system now and brings alot to this ballclub.

[DPG21920]

:lol

By the way, how funny was the hand in the cookie jar comment. I am glad to see him man up about the "dirty" stuff, set the record straight on what the truth is and take the question head on.

[dreamsky]

Thanks for your video!

[Danny.Zhu]

Thanks.

[koriwhat]

www.retirenumber12.com (www.retirenumber12.com)

[loveforthegame]

Thanks for the video. :tu

He's going to be missed. Damn.

[bigfan]

Jersey to the rafters!

[Cherry]

"Bruce, thanks for 7 wonderful seasons (w/3 rings included!). U r gonna be missed, amigo! But in some way, glad you are not gonna be chasing me everywhere playing for another team! ;-). All the best for u and ur great fam!"

Thanks Bruce :toast

[lefty]

Nice dig at Dallas. :flag:

Yeah , I loled

[lefty]

I wish he played 1 more season with the improved team, just to get a final ring before going out

[Lebowski Brickowski]

Thanks for the championships, the laughs, the towells in Sean's face, the unseen work, the dedication, and the community involvement. You were a throwback and my favorite player to watch. You're still one of a kind and that presser just shows how classy you are.

Long Live #12

[Geeboy]

Thanks a lot Bruce for all the championships you helped get for us. You are still one of the best defender that ever came to SAS!


i may be slow but was Bowen dissing Terry in the video? Terry is a piece of shit anyway.

Watch your word! Jason Terry is a grave insult to the word "shit"!:lol

[50Bestspurever]

Great article Buck as usual. Loved his article on D. Rob when he retired and loved this one too. Always laugh at people at this website that say Buck is stealing there takes. LOL that is so insane. Read this article it is ten times better than any post here. It is a celebration of Bruce. God bless Bruce. You were a bad m@therf@ker and you will be missed.

[sa_kid20]

Thanks for everything Bruce!!

http://i697.photobucket.com/albums/vv337/sa_kid20/brucebowenofficial.jpg

[peacemaker885]

This is an amazing video. The substance and character that Bruce shows is just plain amazing. This makes one realize how special it is to play with the Spurs.

[duncan228]

Bowen getting some great national press.

Master of little things, Bowen retires on 'own terms' (http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/art_garcia/09/03/bowen.retires/)
By Art Garcia, NBA.com

Bruce Bowen retired Thursday in a beauty salon. Not quite the setting you'd expect for someone who did the San Antonio Spurs' dirty work for all those years.

Bowen got in opponents' faces and their heads. It was ugly. It was borderline dirty. Well, it was dirty at times. It also helped win championships.

There isn't a prettier sight for the Spurs and their fans than the four NBA championship banners hanging from the rafters of the AT&T Center. Bowen helped hang three during eight career-defining seasons in San Antonio.

Perhaps the premier perimeter defender of his generation, Bowen wasn't part of the snapshot that accompanied the last three titles. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili were the headliners, and rightfully so. But none of the El Trio Grande would ever discount Bowen's role in the Spurs' success.

Bowen talked with a number of teammates, past and present, in the past few weeks. Some told him it's not time. Others said do what feels right. Bowen decided to call it day.

"I've been thinking about this for the last five years," Bowen said from the San Antonio salon he owns with his wife. "Each year it put more thought in my head, as far as maybe the time is nearing."

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich loved Bowen's grit and basketball IQ. It wasn't uncommon for Pop and Bruce to knock foreheads at times. They would often engage in spirited exchanges during timeouts over something that just happened on the floor. The words were always meant to get it right.

Bowen did get it right, prospering despite not owning the skills most associate as necessary in a league that celebrates skill. Bowen couldn't shoot like Ray Allen, rebound like Dwight Howard, pass like Steve Nash or dribble like Chris Paul.

Has anyone in a fantasy league ever drafted Bowen? Has there ever been a player so vital to a team's fortunes that averaged 6.2 points and 2.8 rebounds, and shot 41 percent for his career? The answer on both counts is probably a resounding "No."

Bowen was effective in other ways. Both a fundamentally sound and instinctual defender, Bowen had a knack for coming up with a loose ball or grabbing the key rebound or making a timely block. And if he couldn't do it, he darn well made sure the guy he was guarding couldn't make a play. Bowen guarded all five positions with kamikaze gusto, earning eight all-defensive team selections along the way.

He also developed a trusty 3-point shot from the corner, much to the chagrin of opposing defenders who often sagged off Bowen. He struggled with free throw shooting -- rival coaches often employed the intentional foul technique dubbed "Bruise-a-Bowen" in San Antonio -- but Popovich found a way to keep him on the floor.

The other stuff helped. Bowen had a way of nudging or prodding or pulling or sniping that irritated the spit out of his opponents and everyone in the stands at enemy arenas. It was truly a wicked art form. Bowen did just enough on the edge of sportsmanship to create reasonable doubt in officials' minds of his intentions, but clearly enough to take his foes out of their games.

While downplaying the assertion he was dirty, Bowen does regret kicking Allen in March 2006. The incident earned Bowen a $10,000 fine.

"I shouldn't have done that, but that was purposely done," he said. "A lot of the other things it just so happened that I was there after everybody stuck their hand in the cookie jar, and then the lights came on and I had a cookie."

Last season, though, Bowen wasn't the same pain in the neck. A permanent fixture in Popovich's starting five for seven years, Bowen moved into a reduced role as the Spurs began to reshuffle the deck. He started only 10 times and even registered two DNP-CDs. (The Spurs lost both games.)

It became painfully obvious in the first round against the Mavericks that Bowen couldn't cover as he once did. Popovich used him against Dirk Nowitzki and J.J. Barea, and Bowen struggled equally with the 7-footer and mighty mite. The lateral quickness wasn't there anymore. Nowitzki shot over him and Barea zipped by.

Spurs fans hardly batted an eye when Bowen was included in the collection of used parts San Antonio traded to Milwaukee for Richard Jefferson. The euphoria of the move that catapulted the Spurs back to bonafide contender status drowned out any cries over losing Bowen.

"You need to do things to better the business, and the Spurs definitely got better in the players they received, so I'm looking forward to continuously supporting the Spurs, but at more of a distance now," he said, while leaving the door open to rejoining the organization in some capacity down the line.

Hey, it's about titles and Bowen understands that as much as anyone. The one-time pro basketball vagabond who made a home in the Alamo City takes as much pride in those banners as anyone who has ever worn in the Silver & Black.

"If anything," Bowen said, "what people remember me for now is I have three championships."

And so Bowen walks away from the NBA at age 38 without regret. After being bought out by the Bucks, talk surfaced that Bowen would sign with another contender. The Cavaliers and Celtics were among the teams mentioned, but Bowen declined to mention the suitors. He did make sure to tweak the Mavericks once last time.

"It would have been hard for me to play in certain places that I love their football team," the devout Dallas Cowboys fan said. "The only way I would have been there is if I would have been traded there and I had to go."

He all but ruled out completely coming out of retirement during the season for the stretch run, even if the Spurs called.

"I'm not one to decide and then reconsider," Bowen said. "It's not that kind of party here, especially with this gang. You really need to be there from Day 1. It's hard for guys to come in at a certain point and then play.

"I want it to always be on my own terms and I've been fortunate enough to be able to do that now."

Instead, the graduate of the University of Texas-San Antonio returned to his adopted hometown, trading his sneakers for a curling iron.

The pest is ready to tease.

[duncan228]

'Net reaction: Goodbye sweet Bruce (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/-Net-reaction-Goodbye-sweet-Bruce;_ylt=Auix2TNHbsvgyPbNAlFax868vLYF?urn=nba,18 7355)
By J.E. Skeets
Ball Don't Lie

Former Spurs forward Bruce Bowen, long regarded as one of the best and most tenacious defenders/cheap shot artists in the league, retired on Thursday (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Bruce-Bowen-calls-it-quits-after-12-years;_ylt=AitWxhjWWRWF6giV.LfDqzW8vLYF?urn=nba,18 7087). Here's what they're saying out in the ether about the news ...

Basketball Prospectus: (http://www.basketballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=301) "... Bowen leaves with an important NBA legacy. For one, he offers hope to undrafted players. It took Bowen four years to make the league after finishing his career at Cal State-Fullerton, and he did not establish himself as a regular starter until age 29 in Miami. The following year, Bowen signed with San Antonio as a free agent, and he proved to be a perfect fit for Gregg Popovich's system. By focusing on one specific offensive skill (the corner three-pointer), Bowen made himself useful enough on offense to stay on the floor for 30-plus minutes a night. (That never translated into his individual statistics, however. Bowen retires with one of the most negative career WARP totals of any players.) [...] I would also say [...] an entire generation of offensive-challenged defenders gets the luxury of the 'next Bruce Bowen' tag, not unlike talented young swingmen in the post-Michael Jordan era. For a guy who took nearly a decade just to become the first Bruce Bowen, that's not bad at all."

Celtics Hub: (http://celticshub.com/2009/09/03/on-bruce-bowen-and-retired-numbers/) "Google suggests that many, many fans will remember Bowen as a cheap shot artist. When you type 'Bruce Bowen' into the Google search bar, here are the options Google supplies for you: Bruce Bowen groin; Bruce Bowen All-Star; Bruce Bowen stats; Bruce Bowen dirty player; Bruce Bowen kick; Bruce Bowen dirty; Bruce Bowen wiki; Bruce Bowen kick Wally; Bruce Bowen defense; Bruce Bowen spa. That's right-'Bruce Bowen groin' is apparently the most popular string of words typed into Google about Bruce Bowen. Sadly, 'Bruce Bowen defense' ranks a distant ninth. Is this fair? Is this an appropriate way to remember Bowen?"

5kj6h8TF58U

FanHouse: (http://nba.fanhouse.com/2009/09/03/few-will-be-saddened-by-bruce-bowens-retirement/) "... while Bowen is said to be a great guy — generous, kind and sharp — in his personal life, he was no picnic on the basketball court. 'Good riddance' isn't quite the right sentiment, but he should know that most of the NBA will not miss him. For Bowen, that's probably a compliment."

48 Minutes of Hell: (http://www.48minutesofhell.com/2009/09/03/a-number-never-to-be-worn-again/) "When I was a boy, my father used to talk a lot about Lawrence Taylor. In my Dad's opinion LT was a new kind of player. In football the term 'game-changer' is often only applied to offensive skill players. But my dad believed that, for the first time in the history of the game, you could genuinely use that term to describe a linebacker. Taylor's ability to not merely counter the offensive's attack but dictate pace and, in some startling instances, possession struck my Dad as unparalleled. Bowen and Taylor have many differences: Taylor's career was defined by his unique combination of size and speed; Bowen's by his ability to be effective despite his lack of athleticism. But in some sense both inhabit a similar milieu: rather than abide by the traditional notions of defense in their respective sports, they somehow transcended their role. They took the simple task of stopping an opponent and transformed it into an act of expression."

SLAM: (http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2009/09/bruce-bowen-announces-retirement/) "Some may have hated Bowen's game, but all can appreciate his accomplishments — not only as a player, but for the Spurs organization and the San Antonio community. When we remember the Spurs dynasty, we'll not only think about the Big Three, but also about Bruce B. And for everything he's accomplished while in the silver and black, Bruce's jersey deserves a spot among the AT&T Center rafters."

Deadspin: (http://deadspin.com/5351935/bruce-bowen-retires-to-focus-on-cutthroat-hair-salon-business) "Bowen was traded from San Antonio to Milwaukee this offseason, where the Bucks quickly bought out his contract, making him a free agent. Even though he's getting up there in age, there are probably plenty of teams that could use an occasional defensive specialist. Unfortunately, the pressures of competing for business in the shady hardcore world of southern Texas salons and spas just demands too much of his time. Bowen and his wife, Yardley Barbon, are owners of Yardley's Salon & Spa in San Antonio. Last week, the couple walked into a rival salon called 'Oasis' and started threatening two of the employees. The employees used to work for Yardley's and Bowen says they stole his company's client list before defecting to their new bosses. Cops were called, Tweets were sent, 'Bruce was cussing, and his wife was making threats, saying she was going to harass clients every day.' You do not mess with a man's hair salon, people. How many times do I have say this?"

Deep Purple: (http://phoenix.fanster.com/suns/2009/09/03/a-fond-phoenix-farewell-to-bruce-bowen/) "Here's to you, Bruce. We'll miss you about as much as the bowl cut our mother made us get in middle school which, ironically enough, you can now give people."

[Blackjack]

It became painfully obvious in the first round against the Mavericks that Bowen couldn't cover as he once did. Popovich used him against Dirk Nowitzki and J.J. Barea, and Bowen struggled equally with the 7-footer and mighty mite. The lateral quickness wasn't there anymore. Nowitzki shot over him and Barea zipped by.

Yeah, just another failed viewing of that series.:wakeup

Other than Parker, you could argue Bruce played better, or at least close enough to their championship-caliber self, than anyone on the team; that's when he was given the minutes to play..

With no Manu and a battered Duncan, the loss, at least in my eyes, (and most objective fans) was expected.

The idea that keeps getting perpetuated that the Mavs loss was must humiliating or humbling, I find pretty laughable.

Depressing and frustrating, sure.

But you don't feel humbled having to fight with a hand tied behind your back. You wonder what could've been had you had the use of both hands and are left feeling you didn't get a fair shot.

The Spurs weren't getting out of the West last year. But you can't convince me that the team that held the 2-seed for a good part of the year, despite significant injuries to their key players, wasn't capable of meeting the Lakers for a second year in a row..


Spurs fans hardly batted an eye when Bowen was included in the collection of used parts San Antonio traded to Milwaukee for Richard Jefferson. The euphoria of the move that catapulted the Spurs back to bonafide contender status drowned out any cries over losing Bowen.

Obviously not a frequent viewer of SpursTalk.:lol

[duncan228]

Bowen played exquisitely to type (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/steve_aschburner/09/04/bowen/index.html)
Steve Aschburner
SI.com

There is an old saying about Hollywood, career arcs and directors' casting demands that goes something like this: "Get me Denzel Washington! Get me a Denzel Washington-type! Get me a young Denzel Washington!" I'm reminded of that today, in the wake of Bruce Bowen's decision to retire after 12 proud (for him and his) and punishing (for opponents) NBA seasons.

Bowen, 38, won't make it into the Hall of Fame. He might have to wait to see his jersey number retired by the Spurs, the team he helped to championships in 2003, '05 and '07. But he exits the playing scene having achieved a distinction that only a special handful has managed in league history: Bruce Bowen leaves as an archetype.

There have been far fewer pro-basketball archetypes across the years than there have been Springfield inductees, Top 50 honorees, All-NBA selections or certainly All-Stars. Only those with special games, styles or bundles of skills need apply. Yet it can't be so rare that it veers into one-of-a-kind territory; there has to be some opportunity for others to follow down that particular path, prototype first, copies later. In other words, we're talking about a player who is unique -- but not too unique (sorry, vocabulary sticklers).

A simple way to gauge this is to stick "-type" onto the back end of a player's name and see if it means something to a typical NBA fan. Consider Larry Bird. Anytime a multitalented frontcourt player taller than 6-foot-8 comes along -- whether it's Detlef Schrempf, Tom Gugliotta, Christian Laettner or Dirk Nowitzki -- the phrase "Larry Bird-type" gets tossed out there by somebody. Usually, somebody is wrong. But we all know what he or she meant.

For a while in the 1980s and '90s, teams actively sought "Magic Johnson types," which was supposed to flood the league with really tall point guards who, charisma aside, could run their teams while peering over the top of the defense. That didn't work so well and it has less to do with Jalen Rose's results than the scarcity of Johnson's total game.

Going further back, coach Don Nelson made Paul Pressey the pioneer of "point forwards" when they were together in Milwaukee, but Scottie Pippen is the guy who can lay claim to "-type" status for how he and the Bulls' coaching staff refined the role. Sometimes it's shorthand -- saying a John Stockton-type or a Kevin Garnett-type conjures instant images. Sometimes it's, er, longhand -- UConn's 7-3 Hasheem Thabeet was talked of at draft time as a possible "Dikembe Mutombo-type" for what might be shot-blocking prowess but limited scoring skills. Sometimes it's negative -- a Byron Houston-type, besides being obscure, is a great low-post scorer in college who isn't big enough to play that way in the NBA. As opposed to, y'know, an Adrian Dantley-type.

Mostly, though, it's positive, which is the case with Bowen. Actually, Bowen's backstory could serve as a prototype as well, standing for all those players who went undrafted by an NBA team out of a school such as Cal State Fullerton, knocked around Europe and the CBA, got signed and waived a time or three, then finally found a home and a career at age 30 (Bowen landed in San Antonio as a free agent in 2001). But it is his front story -- as in, in other guys' faces, right up in their grills -- that we think of now.

What Bowen brought to the Spurs was every bit as essential during their run of titles and Finals appearances, particularly to coach Gregg Popovich, as the playmaking and scoring of Tony Parker, the creativity of Manu Ginobili and the fundamental wonderfulness of Tim Duncan. He was the starch in their black-and-silver shorts, the guy assigned to thwart the other team's most potent scorer and the San Antonio player who invariably became the lightning rod of abuse and invective for fans of 29 other teams.

Sufferers such as Kobe Bryant, Ray Allen, Steve Nash and Nowitzki directed our attention to Bowen's feet (allegedly stepping underneath jump shooters), legs (kicking into his man) and knees (aimed at quadriceps and groins), but I'll always remember his hands flailing around and about the ball-handler like the NHL's Sean Avery pestering Martin Brodeur or, as Phil Jackson said, Edward Scissorhands.

Dirty? At times it sure looked that way -- and Bowen was too good an athlete to pass those moments off as being clumsy. But he was tough, consistent and almost Eddie Haskell-like in his placid expressions through the most physical encounters. And like a single spoonful of castor oil, a little went a long way -- the idea of being guarded by Bowen seemed as distasteful to many NBA stars as the actual experience of it, given his reputation for making an opponent work. That alone made Bowen and the Spurs more effective.

Bowen was named to the All-Defensive team in each of his first eight full NBA seasons. He was runner-up three times for Defensive Player of the Year, though he never won the award that's worthy of being named after him. That doesn't really matter -- what matters is that teams determined to chase a championship feel compelled these days to find a "Bruce Bowen-type" of guy: a clingy, even irritating defender who, for long stretches or whole nights, can negate a dangerous weapon from the other guys' arsenal. Now, from Raja Bell to James Posey, from Trevor Ariza to Jamario Moon, every alleged contender needs someone like Bowen if it expects to be taken seriously.

Some of the players are slightly different in size or build (Matt Barnes, Reggie Evans, Mickael Pietrus). Some, such as Tayshaun Prince, Shane Battier, Ron Artest, Ariza and DeShawn Stevenson, have other skills or attributes at their disposal, occasionally luring them away from Bowen-type duty. But then, Bowen himself never was just a defender, frequently stepping into the corners for a key three-point shot. What they all share at their best, though, is a defense-first focus that the NBA as a whole seems to welcome only in limited quantities, no more than one or two per roster, while coaches, purists and home-team fans welcome them wherever they can find them. Because Bowen reminded us we should.

Summing up his career in his retirement session with reporters, Bowen said: "I hope my legacy would be as someone that never was satisfied with just being where they were."

His legacy goes well beyond that. From inside the offensive man's jersey and head, all the way to "-type" status.

*********************

From June 2007

SI VAULT: The importance of being Bruce Bowen

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1115496/index.htm?eref=sisf

[u4lakers14]

its a shame to see him go.

cheap shot players that can swallow the idea of compensating lack of abilities with shady tactics are becoming far and few between. many of the new players just wont stoop to those levels to achieve in this league.

personal trainers and orthopedic specialists everywhere will sorely miss him.

as spoken from curly bill in tombstone "well,,,,,,,,,,,bye"

[Blackjack]

its a shame to see him go.

cheap shot players that can swallow the idea of compensating lack of abilities with shady tactics are becoming far and few between. many of the new players just wont stoop to those levels to achieve in this league.

personal trainers and orthopedic specialists everywhere will sorely miss him.

as spoken from curly bill in tombstone "well,,,,,,,,,,,bye"

Well, we can't all be as lucky to have the likes of an Artest or Kobe of present day, or a Fox from the past, playing on our favorite team.

Bowen sure was one dirty player...

Grabbing, holding, clawing and not giving an inch every time he took the court to defend the opponent. Truly some filthy, reprehensible stuff.

It's funny how a reputation comes about.

Bowen had a couple of bad reactionary moments --i.e Wally and Allen, the latter being the only one where he lost his cool and intended to do.-- but because he played hard and relentlessly night-in and night-out against the opposing teams' best player on the perimeter, he was a villain. He was the dirtiest thing this side of Amy Winehouse.

Fact of the matter is, Bowen wasn't some cheap-shot artist. He wasn't swinging for the jewels like a Terry or Paul. He wasn't swinging elbows like an Artest or Bryant. He wasn't racking up flagrant fouls like a young K-Mart or, well, Artest; funny how his name keeps coming up.

Bowen's genius was is his ability to not only get in a guys shorts but in his head. He was an irritant. There wasn't a spot on the floor conceded or a catch uncontested. His ball-denial was some of the best that's ever been seen and his unwillingness to give his assignment the space to complete a play, whether it be a shot, pass or catch, was the reason for both his success and controversy.

He wasn't out there brilliantly placing his feet in the perfect place to injure players; funny how the opposition and their fans only seem to give him credit when it suits their argument. What he did was hold his ground. He let people know you could do whatever the hell you wanted, but you were going to have to do it with him draped all over you and without him moving out of the way or giving an inch so that you'd be comfortable.

So when the handful of players started to complain about being undercut by this nuisance/tyrant who prevented them from playing the game they'd become entitled to playing.. That's all the naysayers needed to hear to render the guilty verdict; one for 12 and not by: Guilty of locking up (my) elite perimeter players and disrupting (my) favorite teams offense, by way of dirty, cheating tactics. -- Because excepting defeat graciously or tippin' the 'ol cap cap to the opponent just isn't an option. For most fans, foul-play just has to be involved.--

The fact that Bowen has become the face of `dirty' for the league over the last 10 or so years, just speaks to how successful an unpopular team like the Spurs have been, and just how soft, weak and lame this league has become.

Was he less than sportsman at times, yes.

Did he live in the gray at times, absolutely.

Was he anywhere near someone who would have been considered dirty even 15 years ago?

I think the Bad Boys would laugh their collective asses off if they were told Bowen was the epitome of dirty.