Fourteen years ago, the great Hall-of-Fame basketball coach John Wooden passed away at the age of ninety-nine. As you can see from the photo above, I had the privilege of attending one of his basketball camps during the Summer of 1974–fifty years ago.
It was a John Wooden and Bill Sharman (coaches of UCLA and the LA Lakers, respectively) camp in Honolulu. We lived and breathed basketball 24/7 during that week. We drilled during the day, sat in classes, and scrimmaged in the afternoons and evenings. It was heaven for an aspiring athlete. (That week was notable for the rest of the world because President Nixon resigned that Thursday, August 8, 1974.)
During one drill, Coach Wooden pointed at me and said, “Come here, young man, and show me how you rebound the ball.” I sheepishly came out in front of the other players; and for a couple of minutes, Coach Wooden schooled me on how to box out. No matter what I did–spinning, pushing, hip-checking, and jumping–he always snagged the rebound. I couldn’t believe this gray-haired “old man,” who was at least five inches shorter than me, could do that. (Coach Wooden would have been 63 years old at the time.) It was only later that I discovered he was in the Hall of Fame–as a player (inducted in 1960). No wonder he taught this skinny kid a lesson! He was the first man to be inducted in the Hall-of-Fame as both a player and a coach.
When that exercise ended, he patted me on the back and said, “Good work, son.” He didn’t shame me; he didn’t show me up. He taught me and everyone else on the court the power of good footwork, dogged determination, and that you didn’t have to jump high to get every rebound. The memory of that is so strong that I can still feel his elbows, hips, and other bones grinding into my thighs and ribs as I tried to get around him.
Later that week, they had us practice free throws until we became sick of them. Little did I know that at one time in his playing days, Coach Wooden made 134 consecutive free throws in a 46-game period. And the other instructor, Bill Sharman, led the NBA in free-throw percentage seven times! (Bill Sharman also still holds the record for consecutive free throws in the NBA playoffs with 56.) Now that I look back, I’m amazed at the privilege I had to receive instruction from these great coaches.
But even more significant is the legacy of character and faith that Coach Wooden instilled in everyone. I’ve read his books and interviews and heard numerous comments about him from former players. A few quotes illustrate some of his wisdom. Asked in an interview about the secret to his long life, the then 97-year-old Wooden replied: “Not being afraid of death and having peace within yourself. All of life is peaks and valleys. Don’t let the peaks get too high and the valleys too low.” Asked what he would like God to say when he arrived at the pearly gates, Wooden replied, “Well done.”
Other notable quotes:
- “If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”
- “Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man given. Be grateful. Conceit is self given. Be careful.”
- “It takes time to create excellence. If it could be done quickly, more people would do it.”
- “Happiness begins where selfishness ends.”
- “You are not a failure until you start blaming others for your mistakes.”
Many of today’s leaders forget Coach Wooden, which is to their detriment. I recommend reading his 2005 book Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization.
(I ran a version of this post the day after Coach Wooden’s death in 2010. But since this is sort of the 50th anniversary of the year of that memorable basketball camp I thought I’d run it again.)
