Along with Detlef Schrempf, Uwe Blab was the first German to play in the NBA. In an interview with SPOX, the 60-year-old talks about his access to basketball, his path to the NBA, a basket for the legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski and training sessions with David Robinson.
In 1985, Detlef Schrempf was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in eighth place, becoming the first German in NBA history. A few minutes and nine picks later, the Dallas Mavericks drew another German in Uwe Blab.
The now 60-year-old, who was nicknamed “Burning Skyscraper” in college because of his height of 2.16 meters and the red hair, played a total of 235 games in the NBA and also played for the Golden State after his time in Dallas Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs. Today, Blab lives near Austin, Texas and works as a programmer.
For SPOX the former DBB center looked back on his career and remembered legendary college duels with Michael Jordan, training sessions with David Robinson, the young Gregg Popovich and how a visit to a beer garden got his career rolling in the first place.
Mr. Blab, in 1993 you played your last game for ALBA Berlin. What are you doing now, where can we reach you?
Uwe Blab: Immediately after my career, I moved with my family. We now live in Austin, Texas and have built a house there. I still like it here quite well, apart from politics. But that’s another matter.
How come you went back to the States after ending your career in Germany? You are also not the only German ex-NBA player who has settled in Texas.
Blab: Am I not the only one? Oh yes, Dirk lives here too?
He also lives in Texas…
Blab: Ah ok. I chose Texas because I like American sizing. A vast country, fewer people per square meter. I’ve always wanted to have my own piece of land and live a bit out of the way. In Germany it’s a bit more difficult. I also had better professional opportunities in the USA. I went straight into software development after my career, Austin had a lot to offer.
You were born in Munich. What was the basketball scene in Bavaria like back then in the 70s? How did you get into the sport in the first place?
Blab: It’s quite simple, I was very tall – just like my sister. She played first when I was about 13 years old. Two years later I decided to start and joined a club. I had the advantage of working a lot with my size, because otherwise I could hardly do anything. Two years later I went to the USA, but I hadn’t developed any real skills back then.
How were you discovered in the first place?
Blab: That was pure coincidence. I was actually injured, but I was still indoors when my team played against an American high school. After the game we all went to the beer garden and got to know each other a little. At one point a man came up to me – that was the father of one of the players – and cheekily asked me: “Hey, do you want to come to America for a year as an exchange student?” That’s how it all started. I later lived with him, he was my American host father.
Her host family lived in Effingham, Illinois. I’ve never been there, but that sounds a step smaller than Munich.
Blab: I think Effingham had 3,000 inhabitants at the time, the difference was huge. There wasn’t a big town or anything like that around Effingham either. It was a place in the void, but I didn’t experience that as a culture shock. The language was a bit more difficult, but I learned quickly there too.
In the end, they didn’t just stay for a year…
Blab: I stayed after the exchange year anyway. It was a difficult decision, but it had the following background: I would have missed two years of high school and wasn’t allowed to go there again. So it was a five-year decision, for high school and college. I knew I could study for free with a scholarship because some college coaches were already interested in me. And then I just felt more comfortable there, academically and personally.
You finally decided on Indiana, although you had actually made a commitment to another university.
Blab: That’s right, I actually wanted to go to Duke because they were so highly regarded, especially academically. Mike Krzyzewski had just become a coach at the time – I think it was his second year. Duke wasn’t considered the big college it is today, and my host dad talked me out of it. For him, the coach was too unknown and he wanted me to go to a college closer to Effingham instead. That’s how it turned out to be Indiana.
So not Coach K, but Bobby Knight became your coach, who is no less well known. Tell me: Was he really such a tough dog as the media always portrayed him? His chair throw is still legendary today.
Blab: I can’t say bad things about Coach Knight. It is clear that he was a tough coach and that you had to work hard with him. If you didn’t do that, then you just had to listen to something. But the way I see it, he wanted to prepare us for life – like a sergeant in the military. He is responsible for his soldiers surviving and that is why we were treated so harshly.
Do you have a single classic Knight story that best describes him?
Blab: There’s a lot, but let’s take the chair story. I was in the field there too. We were throwing free throws down the other side back when Knight was doing that. The video about it is very interesting. Knight was very smart and was very calculating in his behavior. He probably threw this chair on purpose because he hardly ever threw it and rather pushed it. The context is also important. In terms of sport, we were very bad at that time. We lost a lot and there was a lot of discussion in the press about who was playing and who wasn’t playing. By throwing the chair, he drew all the media attention to himself for a week or two and took us out of the line of fire.
