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It may have. But it's safe to say he made the most of it.
Taylor's career is somewhat of a remarkable connection between the run-and-gun ABA days and its merge with the NBA, which occurred four years after his professional debut. He started alongside Julius Erving on two New York Nets title teams, winning the last championship by toppling the Denver Nuggets in a six game series and what turned out to be the final game of the ABA.
A 6-foot-2 guard, Taylor was a two-time ABA All-Star, played for three NBA franchises, and with the San Diego Clippers became the NBA's first-ever leader in 3-point shooting in 1979-80.
But he is engrained in the sport as more than a 3-point gunner or a note in the post-merger history books.
"Brian was a legitimate two-way player," Clippers broadcaster Ralph Lawler said. "He could score when needed and make plays at the offensive end, but was probably most valuable as an on-the-ball defender. He could stop people and was always among the league leaders in steals."
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"The closest match I can think for his game would be current Boston Celtics Coach Doc Rivers, who had a brilliant 13-year career as a player, including one playoff season with the Clippers (1991-92)."
Taylor's nickname was the B.T. Express, a homage to his tremendous quickness. He was a stalwart defensive player, earning a spot on the ABA All-Defensive team three times. He was an All-ABA second teamer and 1972-73 ABA Rookie of the Year despite sitting behind John Roche early in the season and only appearing in 63 games overall.
"For me to come and play behind some really talented guards: John Roche, an All-American from South Carolina; and Billy Melchionni," Taylor said. "Coming over there (to the Nets) and sitting on the bench early and watching the professional game was an eye-opener for me. But John got hurt maybe 15 games into the season and I got a chance to start. And that was that."
Taylor also crossed paths with a veritable who's who of the era. While playing in New York, he lived in a condo on Lido Beach, a mere corner or two away from his friend, Erving, who recommended the place.
A year after being traded to the Kansas City Kings in 1976-77, he was shipped to Denver, where for one season he played with dunk maven David Thompson. And after the Clippers signed him as a free agent (the Nuggets received two 1979 second round picks as compensation), he suited up with Bill Walton, World B. Free, and the Clippers all-time leader in points, Randy Smith, among others.
"I loved the guys on the team," Taylor said about the Clippers. "I enjoyed playing with World B. Free and Randy (Smith) and Freeman (Williams). I enjoyed Swen Nater, Joe Bryant. That team was an amazing team of characters."
Taylor grew up in the housing projects of Perth Amboy, a harbor town on the New Jersey border that peeks across Arthur Kill at Staten Island. His family was rife with athletic talent. His father played semi-pro football and his older brother, Bruce, went on to become a Pro Bowl cornerback with the San Francisco 49ers.
The Taylor brothers starred in football and basketball at Perth Amboy High. And Brian led the school to its only state title in boys basketball his junior year in 1968.
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"It was a big thing for us to go to Atlantic City. They used to hold it (the high school state championship) in the Atlantic City Convention Center," Taylor said. "That was before the casinos and all that, but it was the same type of excitement because we'd get a chance to go down and spend the night. We'd spend the night before the game and that was like ‘Whooo!' That drive down was so much fun."
That same season, Taylor scored a school-record 84 points in Perth Amboy's 125-75 win over nearby St. Mary's.
Two years later, he chose to stay in New Jersey, attending Princeton. Although freshmen were not permitted to play varsity sports at the time, he racked up 1,239 career points in two years with the Tigers. In July, Yahoo! Sports ranked Taylor the fifth greatest among the 45 players to reach the NBA from the Ivy League.
Reflecting on his initial decision, Taylor said, "I wanted to stay close, close to home, so my family could see me play a lot."
After his junior year, he was faced with another decision, staying at Princeton or becoming the first player to leave an Ivy League institution for the NBA prior to graduating. To some extent, he said, the decision was easy.
"You mean, I'm going to have to go write a thesis my senior year or get paid to play at the (Nassau) Coliseum. And they (the press) ripped me for making that move. I got a lot of criticism for leaving Princeton early."
He had already reached a verbal agreement with the Nets, but the Seattle SuperSonics selected him in the second round of the 1972 NBA Draft.
"That's the reason I told everybody I only went in the second round, I didn't go in the first round," he said.
After four years in the ABA and one apiece in Kansas City and Denver, Taylor signed with the Clippers with 25 games left in the 1978-79 campaign, saying he had "always wanted to come west."
RALPH REMEMBERS: |
He rarely got off the bench his first year, but it was evident the Clippers had signed him with an eye on the future.
The following season the team brought in Hall of Famer Bill Walton and the NBA added the 3-point line. Lawler said, both additions helped the sharp-shooting Taylor "flourish." He led the league in makes (90) and attempts (239), becoming the only player to top both leagues in shooting from distance.
His time in San Diego was cut short, though. Forty games into the 1981-82 season, he ruptured his Achilles tendon, an injury he could not return from.
"I felt like I could come back and I'm limping. ‘I can make it,' and I'm limping," Taylor said, faking a limp as he talked. "It was a tough, tough injury. You know, it's a tough injury now, but in the early 80s that was a career-ending injury."
Today, a 4 inch long scar behind his ankle is a permanent reminder how tenuous any professional athlete's career can be.
Talking about it, Taylor, 60, shook his head and his usually calm and understated voice seemed softer, almost remorseful.
"Of course, in hindsight, after I played 10 years, and I went back, you wish you had that one more year. It just went too fast. I mean, I only played 10 years. Time flew."
After retiring in 1982, he returned to Princeton and earned two degrees.
He also maintained a residence in California with his wife and five children, joking that he used to call Joe Bryant "crazy" for having three kids during his days in San Diego but managed to "bypass" him by two.
In 1994 Taylor helped found the Inner City Education Foundation, a program that Taylor said took the idea of preparing students in inner-city Los Angeles for college by applying the concept of winning to academics.
He has been a principal and a varsity basketball coach, and is currently working as an educational consultant and motivational speaker as well as in business development.
But ultimately he will always be a basketball player. And with that there seems to be an energy within him that is easily rekindled.
He revisited his memories of that final ABA series. Before returning to New York for what turned out to be a decisive Game 6, the series was locked at two games apiece. The Nets were desperate for a win in Denver, but the Nuggets had rallied from a large second-half deficit to tie the game with less than 10 seconds remaining.
"I think there was maybe like nine seconds, eight seconds, in the game," Taylor said. "And they drew up a play for Doc. Of course, that was a tough one because they had Bobby Jones guarding him.
And Bobby Jones is a great defensive player."
"I remember us designing the play for Doc, Doc coming into the corner, and I made the pass to Doc. He caught the pass and turned and shot the jumper on Bobby Jones. Swish. And we won the game and Doc starts running towards me. And they show this. I see this on some playbacks - they show us hugging at half court, Kevin (Loughery) jumping on us, the whole team coming and us dancing off the court."
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