Kermit Washington - Professional Years

Professional Years

Washington was drafted fifth overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1973 NBA Draft. A week before the team began training camp, Pat and Kermit were married. They invited neither of their families; they just drove together to LA's city hall for the ceremony. He had a difficult time making the transition from college center to NBA power forward. In basketball, many players succeed in high school and college due to superior physical skills, but when they arrive in the professional ranks, they are typically going against players that are often as physically gifted as them. Washington also had played in a primarily zone defense system in college and was not versed in man-to-man defense, which is more common in the NBA. He arrived on a team which had legend Jerry West, who was in the waning stages of a career that would result in him becoming the silhouette seen on the NBA's logo. Washington admits that he was terrified of West, and felt anxiety every time he made a mistake in front of him. Though healthy, he played in only 45 games and averaged 8.9 minutes a game his rookie season. He hurt his back that year but kept quiet about it, fearing he would be "labeled soft." The injury would bother him the rest of his career. He continued to struggle in his second season, and discovered that finding individual coaching in the professional game at that time was difficult. Between the rigorous schedule, and the coaches assuming players already knew how to play for the most part when they entered the league, no one, including head coach Bill Sharman, was willing to work with him on a one-on-one basis.

Entering his fourth season, Washington knew the only thing keeping him in the league was his guaranteed contract and that the Lakers had essentially written him off. The organization felt he had the requisite physical skills, so they ascribed his failure to excel to mental deficiencies. Washington was particularly disturbed when in a game against Golden State, he got into an awkward collision with Rick Barry, upon which Barry remarked: "Listen, you better learn how to play this game." The criticism especially bothered Washington because he felt Barry's rebuke was correct. Desperate to improve, he contacted Pete Newell at the recommendation of an agent. Newell was a retired pro and college coach who worked in a front office position with the Lakers, and had drafted Washington when he was then the team's GM. In truth, while Newell says he felt some responsibility considering he drafted him, he was involved in many player transactions over the course of his long career, and was not especially attached to Washington. He was surprised by this request, however, and unhappy with his new highly marginalized job within the organization, so Newell agreed to meet Washington for individual drills. He scheduled the practices very early in the morning to test Washington's dedication, thinking a professional athlete would not bother to get up at that hour every day. Washington showed up without complaint and Newell put him through intense training sessions. Newell is often seen as a kind, gentlemanly person, who is considered one of the most important figures in the history of the game of basketball. In private practice, however, he could be an intense, unforgiving teacher, and he was even more unforgiving than usual with Washington as he felt that if he were to offer his services for free he would only do so if the player was willing to train maniacally.

Newell had Washington watch tapes of Paul Silas, who was a rebounding forward for the Boston Celtics, and convinced him to have more confidence in his offensive game. He reworked Washington's game from the ground up, and in so doing established a name for himself as a tremendous coach of big men—he would later conduct a yearly "Big Man Camp" in Hawaii which has been attended by hundreds of NBA players.

Los Angeles had acquired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Washington's style of play complemented him, as Jabbar was not an especially physical player. Washington played well, averaging 9.7 points and 9.3 rebounds; however, he struggled with tendinitis in his knee the entire season. His wife pleaded with him to sit out some games, but he took painkillers and kept playing. Washington finally tore the patella tendon in a late season game against Denver. "I could feel it tearing inside. I looked down, and my kneecap was hanging on the side of my leg." Doctors covered his entire leg in a cast and told him his basketball career was most likely over.

Newell was the person to bring Washington out of the despair he felt when he heard his playing career was probably over. Newell forced him through even more grueling training sessions the following summer, after some of which, Washington strongly considered quitting. His leg had atrophied from the injury and he was scared of re-injuring it during their training sessions. Newell ignored his pleas and told him that if he ever wanted to play again he had to train more than before and work even harder. Washington came back to play the following season and performed well; through the first 25 games he was averaging career highs in points (11.6) and rebounds (10.8). He had been featured in the NBA preview edition of Sports Illustrated (which was dedicated to enforcers that year) before the season and was praised therein for his intimidating nature and fighting skills. The magazine had posed Washington shirtless in a boxing stance as part of a picture layout entitled, "Nobody, but Nobody, Is Gonna Hurt My Teammates."