Stromile Swift was ahead of his time with the Grizzlies. This may be seen as a generous way of touting an undersized, offensively-limited center who will go down as little more than a footnote in NBA annals. But Swift was a rim-running, shot-blocking athletic freak in an era where big men were still largely valued on their brute force and back-to-the-basket games.
In today’s NBA of pick-‘n’-rolls, rim protection, and relative pint-sized pivots, his skills would have been celebrated. Despite not having any stretch potential to speak of, he brought several niche attributes to the table.