ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, May 7, 1996 TAG: 9605070057
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From Associated Press reports
NBA scoring masters George Gervin and David Thompson, shadowed by drug abuse off the court, shared the spotlight Monday for their accomplishments on the court.
Two of the game's most compelling offensive players, they were enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame - an honor they once thought might escape them because of their drug histories.
``It must have been part of my destiny to awaken me to ... a better life,'' said Gervin, who calls his recovery his personal hall of fame.
This year's other inductees were Los Angeles Lakers guard Gail Goodrich, early jump-shot specialist George Yardley, U.S. Olympian Nancy Lieberman-Cline and the late Yugoslav star Kresimir Cosic.
Yardley, the first NBA player to score 2,000 points in a season, said the drug recoveries of Gervin and Thompson show that ``life is bigger than basketball sometimes.''
Gervin, who began his pro career in Roanoke with the American Basketball Association's Virginia Squires, played for San Antonio from 1974-85 and turned his cool finesse and signature finger roll into NBA scoring titles in 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1982. Only Michael Jordan (eight) and Wilt Chamberlain (seven) have won more scoring crowns.
Thompson led North Carolina State to the 1974 NCAA crown, and scored 73 points in a game for Denver en route to the 1978 NBA scoring title.
Like Thompson, Goodrich was a college champion, helping UCLA win the NCAA title in 1964 and 1965.
Lieberman-Cline, a spectacular scorer and passer, teamed with Hall of Famer Anne Donovan at Old Dominion, lifting the school to national championships in 1979 and 1980.
Cosic, a Croatian who died of cancer a year ago at age 46, played for Brigham Young. In 1980, he helped the Yugoslav Olympic team win a gold medal.
West Virginia University basketball player Greg Simpson will spend two days in jail in Morgantown, W.Va., this month after pleading no contest to charges stemming from a hit-and-run auto wreck.
Simpson was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, driving with a suspended driver's license and crossing the center line.
Judge Alex Solomon on Monday handed down a $260 fine on the charges and a two-day sentence for driving with a suspended license.
Simpson, 22, of Lima, Ohio, was accused of driving away from an accident he caused by trying to pass a string of cars Thursday morning. He turned himself in later the same day, police said.
LENGTH: Medium: 53 linesby CNB