Forgotten Superstars-World B Free

Today's return to the Forgotten Superstars universe takes us to an all-time favorite of mine-World B Free.
World B might have been a one-dimensional player, but that dimension was definitely a memorable and effective one at that!

The Brooklyn born and raised Free started his pro career as a second-round pick of the Philadelphia 76ers and was part of the talented yet enigmatic  Sixer team that lost to the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1977 NBA Finals.
Free was certainly a talented player, but among such a group of players, Free was never going to get the type of playing time as a young player that his game might have deserved among the Julius Erving's and George McGinnis's to mention a few of the players in Philadelphia...

The Sixers of the late '70s were the league-best as far as roster talent, but were quite a dysfunctional bunch and were constantly moving talent in and out to attempt to improve team chemistry and Free's departure as their instant offense off the bench was just one of those moves.
Free was shipped to the lowly San Diego Clippers for a future first-round draft pick in 1978 that the Sixers would not have until 1984.
This was often the procedure of crummy teams in the National Basketball Association in that time as they drafted future first-rounders like they were dealing with Monopoly money, trading top picks down the road for average to good players that really would not turn the poor team around.
Considering how this usually did not work out well, the Clippers at least did get two terrific seasons from World B. as Free averaged 28 and 30 points a game in his two years in San Diego, although the team failed to make the playoffs either season.
Despite Free's production, the trade still did not work well for the Clippers as the draft pick that they sent to Philadelphia was cashed in for Charles Barkley.


The jump-shooting machine was traded to the Warriors in a trade for guard Phil Smith and a 1984 first-rounder to replace the one traded to the Sixers to get Free.
Dizzy yet?
The Clippers did not exactly land a Barkley type player with the pick of Louisville guard Lancaster Gordon that proved to be a bust.
Free continued to score as a Warrior and the Warriors failed to make the playoffs, sensing a pattern here?
Free had the rap of a selfish player and I am not sure if Free was a good scorer on bad teams or was it that a team could not win consistently with the jump shooting of Free as the main focus.
In two and a half seasons with the Warriors, Free continued to average well over twenty points a game but displeased someone as he was traded straight up to Cleveland for Ron Brewer.
Free might be the player that saved basketball in Cleveland as the Cavaliers were coming off the nightmare that was the Ted Stepien regime and had little talent to entertain let alone win.
Free gave the Northern Ohio fans a reason to go to the Richfield Coliseum as he not only added pop to an offense that lacked an elite scorer but brought a flair that the franchise had never had even when the team was a winning one.


Free's most notable accomplishment might have been being the key component in reversing a 2-19 start to help the Cavaliers finish 36-46 and make the playoffs where they gave top-seeded Boston all they wanted in losing their first-round series in four close games of a best of five.
Free would average 23 points in the next season for Cleveland, but the Cavaliers missed the playoffs and as a result, Wayne Embry was hired to rebuild the team.
Free wasn't deemed to be the type to mesh well with the three drafted rookies in Brad Daugherty, Mark Price, and Ron Harper and when Free held out of camp, the Cavaliers had their reason to move on.
Free's career went downhill quickly as he played 20 games for Philadelphia and averaged less than six points a game before moving to the Rockets the following season and scored just six a game.
The pure jump shooters' legs seem to go all at once and I think that is what happened to Free.


To this day, the Cavaliers have not retired number 21 and considering his contributions to the franchise, the honor is long overdue.
As a Cleveland fan, I like all of the players that have had their numbers retired, but few of them have the case that World B.does, I hope to eventually see this corrected.


World B.Free might have been a great scorer, not a great player and those that watch basketball can tell the difference, but he was charismatic, fun to watch and made three bad franchises somewhat interesting to watch.
Thanks for the memories, World B and welcome to the Forgotten Superstars universe...