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Bob Lanier, NBA force who left big shoes to fill, dies at 73

FILE -Former NBA players Bill Russell, left, and Bob Lanier share a laugh during the ceremonial opening of a new reading and learning center at a community center Friday, June 6, 2008, in Boston. Bob Lanier, the left-handed big man who muscled up beside the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as one of the NBA’s top players of the 1970s, died Tuesday, May 10, 2022. He was 73. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds, File)

FILE -Former Hall of Fame player and coach Bob Lanier, spokesman for NBA's TeamUp, announces that balloting has begun for the NBA All-Star Game to be played in Oakland in February 2000 Monday, Nov. 15, 1999, in Oakland, Calif. Bob Lanier, the left-handed big man who muscled up beside the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as one of the NBA’s top players of the 1970s, died Tuesday, May 10, 2022. He was 73.(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

FILE -Milwaukee Bucks Bob Lanier (16) moves for the basket as Philadelphia 76ers Darryl Dawkins defends during an NBA playoff game, April 13, 1981 in Milwaukee. Bob Lanier, the left-handed big man who muscled up beside the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as one of the NBA’s top players of the 1970s, died Tuesday, May 10, 2022. He was 73. (AP Photo/Steve Pyle)

FILE -NBA legend Julius 'Dr. J' Erving, left, greets former Milwaukee Bucks' Bob Lanier during LeBron James presentation for the NBA Rookie of the Year award at the NBA Store on New York's 5th Avenue, Tuesday, April 20, 2004. Bob Lanier, the left-handed big man who muscled up beside the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as one of the NBA’s top players of the 1970s, died Tuesday, May 10, 2022. He was 73.(AP Photo/Stuart Ramson, File)

Bob Lanier, NBA force who left big shoes to fill, dies at 73