N.J. Hoop Legend Jim Spanarkel Active In Basketball, Golf

NJSGA GOLF MAGAZINE CELEBRITY INTERVIEW

Jim Spanarkel is a New Jersey basketball legend.

Spanarkel’s career spans from the playgrounds of Jersey City to All-American status at Duke University and a five-year career in the NBA. For the past 25 years, he has been broadcasting basketball on both the pro and collegiate levels while holding down a full-time job as a Merrill-Lynch wealth management advisor in the Paramus, N.J., office.

The 6-5 shooting guard and small forward was a two-time captain at Duke, leading the team to the NCAA championship game in 1978 when he was voted Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA East Regional. He was the first 2000-point scorer in the history of his alma mater. He was first-team All-America and Academic All-American his final two years at Duke.

After a rookie season in the NBA with the Sixers, he spent the next four years with the Dallas Mavericks and averaged nearly 10 points per game.

He graduated from Hudson Catholic in 1975 and was a two-time First Team All-Hudson County selection in two sports – baseball and basketball. He led the Hawks to the HCIAA basketball championship in 1974, the first county title in the school’s history. His senior year, he averaged 16 points and seven assists per game and played on the same team with Mike O’Koren, who starred at North Carolina and also played in the NBA.

Spanarkel has been a member of the Upper Montclair Country Club since 2002.

Q: HOW OFTEN DO YOU GOLF?

A: I’ve played a little bit on and off for the past 20 years like a lot of people. Twelve years ago I joined the Upper Montclair Country Club. I really enjoy the game and I like to play but at the same time I find it to be a difficult game to master.

Five years ago, I was probably a 22 handicap and I have worked my way down to a 16 handicap. If I worked at it, I’d like to think that I could get a little bit better at it. I don’t have as much time as I’d like to devote to it.

I have four children, my girls are 23 and 27 and my boys 22 and 29. Now, I have more time to play than I did 10 years ago and I’ve gotten a little more consistent. I try to play in the spring and summer, on weekend mornings if I can and maybe late in afternoon, so I play maybe 2-1/2 times per week. In the last two years I’ve gotten more consistent and I started playing in a lot of club events, Tuesday night leagues, and on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Q: WHAT IS YOUR APPROACH TO GOLF?

A: I’m still very competitive. I trained myself to be competitive in sports and to be successful in them as an athlete. That’s where the frustration sets in with golf.

I don’t play all that much, so my approach is to keep it fun. I enjoy going out there with guys I know. The social part is what I like, have some fun, and at the end of the day, the course record is still safe—at the low end for sure and hopefully at the high end.

I tell the guys I’m playing with that I may not play well, but I’m not going to quit.

Q: WHAT ARE YOUR STRENGTHS ON THE GOLF COURSE?

A: I hit my irons pretty well, but I do not hit the driver well at all. If someone is reading this article who can help me with my driver, please get in touch. I can go from hitting it to 260 down the middle to hitting it off the toe of the club, 40 yards sideways. I tell my playing partners, I’m like Baskin-Robbins: every swing is a different flavor.

Q: HOW BUSY ARE YOU AS A BROADCASTER?

A: I broadcast college and professional basketball games. I work 35 Brooklyn Nets games per season and some college basketball for Fox Sports 1 and I’ve worked the NCAA tournament for CBS the past 18 years. It’s a lot of fun and makes my winters go by pretty quickly. Between my job at Merrill Lynch and broadcasting, I’m relatively busy but I have always been pretty good at time management—that is the key to working both careers.

Q: WHAT INSPIRES YOU ABOUT BROADCASTING BASKETBALL?

A: I’m a basketball guy and it has allowed me to keep my foot in the door. I finished playing in the NBA in 1984, and that was the year I started at Merrill-Lynch. After a year or two, I decided I wanted to give broadcasting a try. I was hired by the Nets to do some radio games. At that time, Bill Raftery was doing the TV side. They offered me the TV games that he couldn’t work. So that first year, I did 20 games on TV and 45 on the radio. It was a real good indoctrination and it has allowed me to stay involved in the sports world. Even though I haven’t played in 25 years, I’m still in the game I love.

Q: WHAT TYPE OF ATHLETE WERE YOU GROWING UP?

A: Growing up in Jersey City, I played any sport from touch football to baseball to basketball and everything you can imagine. But there were no golf courses in Jersey City like there is now (Liberty National). Golf was never a game that we had access to growing up in Jersey City. Basketball and baseball were two sports I really enjoyed playing and I even played two years of varsity baseball at Duke, which is kind of a secret. I was lucky to be able to play two sports there.

Q: WHEN DID YOU BEGIN CONSIDERING PLAYING AT THE PROFESSIONAL LEVEL?

A: My first year at Duke, the rule banning freshman from playing varsity had changed and I was the first freshman to ever start there. In my sophomore year, our starting point guard, Tate Armstrong, was injured, so I had more responsibilities and that’s when I first thought of playing on the next level. My junior year we made the Final Four and lost to Kentucky in the championship game. Senior year, we were No. 1 in the country at 10-0, then lost two games at The Garden in the Holiday Festival and we never got to the same level as the year before. We lost on the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament to St. John’s. There’s always a challenge when someone is real competitive and wants to advance to the next level. But you have to have the competitive juices, be able to work hard and have some talent.

Q: WHAT ARE YOUR MEMORIES OF PLAYING IN THE NBA?

A: I was drafted in the first round, No. 16 overall, by the Philadelphia 76ers and didn’t play much as a rookie. But I was lucky to watch Dr. J (Julius Erving) take us to the NBA Finals where we lost to the rookie Magic Johnson and the Lakers in seven games. That was an experience in itself. The next year, the Dallas Mavericks selected me in the expansion draft and I played every game and led them in scoring my first year there. We beat George Gervin and the Spurs in the first game, but ended up winning only 15 games all season—that was a long year. By my fourth year, we made the playoffs.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PLAYING IN COLLEGE AND THE NBA?

A: In the NBA, it was about understanding how competitive it was. Guys were playing on the college level just to play and be competitive and have fun. When you go to the NBA, you learn the difference from it being a competitive sport to playing for your livelihood.

On the other side of it, I learned how to deal with pressure. My first two years, I had a guaranteed contract. After that, in years 3, 4, and 5, I could get cut at any time. So there was a constant pressure to perform well. The fun part was playing basketball at the highest level in the world. There were only 25 teams and I was one of 300 players. It was humbling to be able to make it at that level.

Q: HOW DO YOU LOOK BACK ON YOUR CAREER IN BASKETBALL?

A: No question I’m grateful and thankful to have been able to travel in and out of the United States. When I was a player rep for Dallas, I went to China on a player rep trip. Last year with the Nets, I broadcast a game in London. It’s been great for me from that perspective. I’ve met tons and tons of people in and out of basketball. People know you’re in sports and come up to you and talk about their memories. It’s been a great run for me and still continues to this day.

Q&A conducted by Mike Moretti, NJSGA Director of Communications