http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/106780403.html Both Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith of TNT on Thursday night offered their recollections of former Marquette star Maurice Lucas, who had a long and productive career in pro basketball. Lucas died Sunday in Portland. He was 58. Barkley, playing for the Philadelphia 76ers, recalled a game early in his career when he faced Lucas. "Early in the game, he hits me with a forearm shiver," Barkley said. "I fold like chair. I can’t breath. We call time out and everything. At halftime, I pull Moses Malone, who was my mentor at the time, to the side and ask him what I should do. He said, “Do me a favor and hit him as hard as you can.” So the next time, I hit Maurice Lucas as hard as I can and he folds like a chair. At the time out, he walks up to me, I’m scared to death, and says, “Good job young fella, I just wanted to see what you were made of.” It was so awesome. He was such a wonderful person.” Smith noted the disconnect between Lucas' reputation and what he was like as a person. “He had the reputation as 'The Enforcer,' " Smith said. "So as a kid, I grew up watching him and believing that. But after meeting him I realized he was the nicest man that you would ever meet. He was just a giving person. But the persona of ‘The Enforcer’ had people scared to talk to him. He will be dearly missed.”
