This is strange.
I’ve got a buddy that I talk with on the phone and we engage in long conversations ranging from politics to pop culture to sports. Last night’s thread somehow wound around to the Seattle SuperSonics (now Oklahoma City Thunder) teams of the late ’70s who made two trips to the NBA Finals. We knew the Sonics and the Washington Bullets (now Wizards) split back-to-back finals, but couldn’t remember which team won the the rematch.
Right after hanging up I check my computer and there’s the news that Marvin Webster, aka the Human Eraser, was found dead in a Tulsa hotel room. Webster led the Sonics to the ’78 finals, where they lost to the Bullets, but had already departed for the Knicks when the Sonics won the ’79 rematch.
Even stranger is Webster has a local connection. Marvin Webster Jr. was raised in Greensboro by his maternal grandparents after Webster and his wife divorced.
Those of us old enough can remember hearing and reading about the Human Eraser playing for Division II Morgan State. Unfortunately his pro career never lived to his potential, mostly due to hepatitis he contracted in the mid’80s.
