If you were a kid and an NBA fan growing up in the 1970s, Paul Westphal was as cool an athlete could be.
He could shoot, dunk and was as ambidextrous as a juggler. All that, combined with a keen, inquisitive mind, made him stunningly creative on the court and during the “Horse” competitions that aired during halftimes of games on CBS.
If you were a kid and a basketball fan in Arizona during those days, you likely pretended to be Westphal while shooting alone in the driveway or at a park with friends.
If you were a young sportswriter who met Westphal in the late 1980s, like me, you thought Westphal was as cool as a coach could be.