pivotman

[piv-uht-man]

noun

Basketball.

plural

pivotmen 

1. a pivot.

Word History and Origins

Origin of pivotman¹

First recorded in 1810–15; pivot + man

Example Sentences

The center cannot hold, as someone once said, and they weren’t talking about the Cavs’ notoriously gimpy pivotman Anderson Varejao.

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That's why the Houston Rockets' pivotman, Hakeem Olajuwon, got a $55 million, five-year contract extension and another African-born center, Dikembe Mutombo, signed with the Atlanta Hawks for a five-year, $50 million deal.

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By basketball's nature, it is fundamentally a pivotman's game, the expected province of the Los Angeles Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Philadelphia 76er Moses Malone, but Forward Bird forwardly deposed Malone as the league's MVP last season after placing second three straight years.

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Bird could be the best player in the N.B.A. at the same time that Robert Parish, Boston's 7-ft. pivotman, is the most valuable one on the team, and that is probably the situation right now.

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At 14, Walton had been a 6-1 guard; by 16, he was a 6-10 pivotman.

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