Lee Shaffer, a western Pennsylvania great you probably don't know
Lee Shaffer said it was easier going to the basket against Wilt Chamberlain than Bill Russell. Shaffer was talking about that NBA All-Star Game when he scored 12 points, that playoff series when he averaged close to 30 against Oscar Robertson, what it was like to be the No. 5 pick in the NBA draft and that senior season at UNC when he was ACC Player of the Year and an All-American.
Dean Smith's coaching genius, character showed in early struggles
The booming baritone voice on the other end of the line left no doubt about a willingness to tackle the subject of Dean Smith’s early days. I think he called me “Holliday.” Lee Shaffer often does when he wants to make a passionate point about Carolina basketball: “People have no idea,” he said, “what Dean Smith inherited.”