101 Greats of European Basketball

Vladimir Stankovic
court, his personality was liked by everyone around
him. He adapted to the Madrid life quite easily to the
point in which, during a trip, he told club president Raimundo
Saporta, that he wouldn’t mind at all getting a
Spanish passport. Luyk’s wish was really convenient for
Saporta, especially since the Spanish League, in 1965,
decided to play with no foreigners. Saporta’s famous
sentence was, “If Luyk and Burgess cannot play as foreigners,
they will play as Spaniards.” He didn’t fulfill his
word to the letter because Burgess refused a Spanish
passport, but Luyk was more than enough. The following
year, in a non-official world championship in Chile,
Luyk made his debut with the Spanish national team
against the United States.
Real Madrid’s long domination in the Spanish
League is owed a lot to Luyk. From his arrival in 1962
until his retirement in 1978, Real Madrid won 14 league
titles, 10 national cups, six EuroLeague titles and three
Intercontinental Cups. He also played with the Spanish
national team until 1975 and won a silver medal at the
1973 EuroBasket in Barcelona, where he averaged 9.3
points. His best numbers with the national team were
in the 1968 Mexico Olympics (20.2 ppg.), the 1969
EuroBasket in Italy (17.9 ppg.), the 1971 EuroBasket in
West Germany (17.6 ppg.) and the 1972 Olympics in
Munich (16.0 ppg.).
The man of the finals
From childhood, Luyk was a natural sportsman. At
eight years old he played tennis, basketball and swam.
But most of all, his favorite sport was baseball. At 12
years old, and already quite tall, he finally chose basketball.
After a fine high school career, Luyk received many
offers from prestigious colleges. His choice surprised
everyone: Florida. He said that he wanted to go as far
away from home as possible to become independent.
Also, he liked the life in the South, which was a much
more laid-back lifestyle. Later in Madrid, he would say
that a big factor in his quick adaptation to the new
country was the time he spent in Florida.
Luyk had that feature that only the true greats have:
stability. It seemed impossible that he would ever play
a bad game. On his worst days, he always helped the
team. If he didn’t score his usual amount of points, he
would grab more rebounds or he would draw more
fouls to eliminate rivals. Simply put, his mere presence
on the court gave more security to the coach, his teammates
and the fans.
Luyk’s special shot was the hook. The shot that was
perfected by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was something few
in Europe could execute as well as Luyk. He had an almost
perfect mid-range shot, a great nose for rebounding and
the instinct to play even better in important games. In
the years when Real Madrid won the EuroLeague, his
contribution was always paramount. He scored 18
points in 1964, 30 and 18 in 1965, 17 in 1967, 24 in 1968,
20 in 1969 and 14 in 1974. Luyk didn’t play the 1978 final,
but during that season he had played several games.
The word “pressure” simply did not exist for him, and
even less the word “fear”. He was a tough player, rocky
and aggressive. He liked contact because his speed and
technique were always an advantage over his rivals,
even if they were taller and/or bigger.
In 1967, Real Madrid signed Wayne Brabender,
who was four years younger than Luyk, and who had
followed in the footsteps of his fellow countryman. Brabender
picked up a Spanish passport and played 190
times for the Spanish national team. He also stayed
in Real Madrid until 1983. Brabender won 13 Spanish
Leagues titles, seven cups, four EuroLeagues and three
184
185