The ‘Iceman’ George Gervin gives credit for a finger roll to Dr J, Wilt Chamberlain and Connie Hawkins in an upcoming untitled documentary in the work
Advertisement
Every legend in NBA has a signature move. But what sets them apart is the perfection of that move. When it comes to finger roll, no one has honed it to perfection as the NBA legend George Gervin.
The Iceman recently sat down for an upcoming documentary with NBA.com to talk about his career, NBA 75 list and much more. Gervin was named in the 50 greatest NBA players list and has been retained in NBA 75th Anniversary List as well.
When he was asked about his signature ‘finger roll’ he said, “I am not the inventor of the finger roll. I kind of just copycatted them.”
This is a clip of the legend talking about in detail in a 2006 interview:
George Gervin is one of the foremost scorers of all time
In his Hall Of Fame career, George Gervin was a 9-time All-Star and a 5-time All-NBA First Team selection. He led the league in scoring 4 times in his career. His finger roll was second to none.
In one of the Open Court episodes, Bad Boy Piston Isiah Thomas said “We were taught the backboard is you, friend. Everything gotta be in the square, banking in the square. George Gervin used all of the glass.” The Iceman used to finger roll even from the free-throw line.
He definitely didn’t sweat when it was offense time. Matter of fact, it was Gervin’s record which Klay Thompson broke by scoring the highest points in a quarter (37) in 2016.
George scored 34 points in a quarter in 1978, without any 3 pointers (Klay made 9 3-pointers in his record-breaking game). When Gervin was asked about Klay record, he said “it’s still my record”.
It is a fact that Gervin didn’t invent the finger roll. But it’s also a fact that when someone sees a spectacular finger roll, they say “George Gervin”.
