NBA: Jay Carty's one-year Lakers ride

For the more and more 17- and 18-year-olds chasing the lure of NBA gold every year, the story of former Los Angeles Lakers forward Jay Carty’s entry into the big-time would likely bring on some puzzlement. An early bloomer he wasn’t.

During the 1968-69 season, in what would be his entire NBA career, Carty became a 27-year-old rookie. That was 10 years after the 6-foot-6, 165-pounder was a small-school, all-state basketball pick in California -- the only player in his league with the ability to dunk the basketball – routed for Oregon State at Corvallis.

With Oregon State, an independent at the time, he beefed to 6-foot-8, 220-pounds and played with future NBA star Mel Counts. He had a good it not spectacular career with the Beavers. So what took him so long to break into the pro ranks? Did he hit all the camps as a walk-on candidate year after year? Call all the NBA general managers around Christmas time and ask how their kids were doing? Did he get enthused listening to Chick Hearn’s graphic Lakers play-by-play vocalizing? How did the Lakers enter the picture? It was the St. Louis Hawks who had made him a fifth-round draft choice in 1962.

"I didn’t sign with the Hawks because I wanted to get my doctorate," recalled Carty, speaking by telephone from his home in Santa Barbara, Calif. "I was focused on my education." After leaving Corvallis, he followed his plan of attaining a higher degree by enrolling at the University of California, Los Angeles.

He said he harbors no regrets about that decision, even if it meant passing up the chance to see how he might have fared with such established Hawks stars as Bob Pettit and Cliff Hagan.

"The Hawks drafted three forwards ahead of me. I thought they might be telling me something."

As for his introduction with the Lakers, "I came in the back door. I was working out daily with the UCLA Bruins. I was playing some summer ball, doing well, and the Lakers had a bad rookie crop – there weren’t many of them. They offered me $10 a practice if I’d work out with their rookies. That’s how I ended up getting a contract."

Why would the Lakers, though, sign an aging player, long away from the college court whirl, for less than a pivotal role in team development?

"Easy," Carty said. "I was cheap…I signed for $1,500 and $15,000 a year. We had 11 players, not the 15 they have now. Teams were interested in saving money."

At UCLA, Carty was freshman coach Gary Cunningham’s assistant and head coach John Wooden’s part-time assistant.

"I was there by the gym and I just walked in. Having coached some at Oregon State, I figured I’d be bored part of the time at UCLA if I stayed out of it. So they put me to work."

Carty worked with such freshmen as Lew Alcindor, soon to become Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Steve Patterson and Curtis Rowe. The frosh team beat the varsity in its annual game that year.

Alcindor, of course, was his main workload.

"I was Alcindor’s punching bag. Anytime there was contact work, I played against him. There was no one else around going to give him any competition in practice, certainly none of the freshmen. I also worked with him individually for a half hour before each practice. We worked on lots of hooks, lots of footwork drills, moving across the center, and getting rid of a fade he had on his jump shot, so he was going straight up and able to follow his shot.

"He was always responsive," Carty said of the 7-foot-2 center. "I never asked him to do anything he couldn’t or wouldn’t do."

In his lone season as a member of the Lakers, a team laden with three superstars, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, and Wilt Chamberlain, he helped hoist a Western Division title flag but it was the Boston Celtics who won it all.

"It was fun, I got to travel, see the country, enjoy the guys. I was going to get traded to Cincinnati. I probably could have been a 10-minute a game man for somebody, but you had to bounce around the teams a little to find your niche. I didn’t want to do that."

More recently, Carty created Yes! Ministries in 1982, a vehicle for helping people say "yes!" to God. He is an author and is active as a speaker in various settings around the country. His latest book, "O. Whillikers in the Hall of Champions," is based on the beatitudes of Jesus Christ.