Plenty of highlights from Left Coast

Peter Vecsey
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HOOP DU JOUR

LOS ANGELES — Head out West (the coast has never been clearer) for two weeks and you hear stuff that can’t be learned at home staying permanently connected to the Internet, re-establish ancient acquaintances and socialize with sovereigns. Attending a single Warriors practice accomplished all three.

Al “The Destroyer” Attles and I embraced like the long-lost friends we are.

I hadn’t seen the Warriors’ former coach (’75 championship) and player (who combined with Wilt Chamberlain for 117 points the March 2, 1962 night Chamberlain went for the century mark against the Knicks) and franchise fixture in more than a decade.

AP

JIMMER JAM: KIngs rookie Jimmer Fredette (right, chatting with the Warriors’ David Lee during a preseason game) made an impression on The Post’s Peter Vecsey in a visit with the guard from Brigham Young who was looked at by the Knicks and drafted by the Bucks before being dealt to Sacramento.

The 75-year-old sported a scraggly white beard and a lean look.

“In 10 years I think I’ll be able to take you,” I whispered in his ear before feeling his muscled frame.

“You might want to wait until I’m 90,” Attles chortled, his distinctive deep voice bringing back a flood of memories.

Attles had broken it down to me before, but I asked him to refresh my memory about a conflict between him and Barry Kramer at training camp in 1964. Kramer, a 6-foot-4 forward two years ahead of Pat Riley at Schenectady’s Linton High School, a two-time NYU All-America and long-term judge in his home area, offered undeniable evidence white men indeed can jump.

The Warriors drafted Kramer No. 7. Nobody knows for sure if the hardcore veteran and reconverted rookie forward were competing for the same guard spot on the 10-man roster, but Attles and Kramer went at it that way ... seemingly provoked and definitely prodded by coach Alex Hannum, who got off on players throwing down.

“Barry was a good kid and he was a good player, but he really didn’t want to hear anything from me,” Attles said. “He had a habit of wrapping his arm around you when he drove. I told him the refs were going to call that. He gave me an arrogant look and said, ‘Yeah, right, let’s play ball.’ ”

The next time Kramer pulled the move, Attles pummeled the poise out of him. After one inauspicious season, Kramer played briefly in the ABA before deciding to enter law school.

“It wasn’t very pretty,” Attles said, flinching. “I wasn’t proud that it happened. My Newark-ese just came out.”

* Jimmer Fredette is from the same region (Glens Falls) as Kramer. I had never seen him play in person until the Kings-Warriors exhibition game. We all know he has 4-point shooting range, but what stood out even more was his inhuman feel for the game. Consequently, he’s able to pick apart the defense and get inside it for floaters and mid-paint pull-ups.