Reprinted from my Basketball Report, Vol. 92-93, No. 3, published in late January 1993.

JUST HOW IMPORTANT IS BASKETBALL?

Very recently, two basketball greats died – Hank Iba after a long and illustrious career, and Chris Street at the beginning of his.

“Of all the shadows that cast over the game of basketball, his was the biggest, “ Bobby Knight commented after hearing of Iba’s death January 15.  Iba won 767 games, second highest in history, and led Oklahoma State to back-to-back national championships in ’45 and ’46.  His influence on the game was, and still is, pervasive.  He was the coach of three US Olympic teams, winning Gold medals in ’64 and ’68, and when we lost the controversial final game to the Russians in 1972.

The coaching ranks are filled with his protégés, disciples and admirers.  He was a teacher who believed in hard work, and was revered by his players.  Don Haskins, who coached UTEP to a national championship in ’66, said playing basketball for Mr. Iba (as he was known by all) was “the greatest experience of my life.”

“Street’s flag-waving intensity, the spark behind Iowa’s basketball team the past three seasons, was extinguished when the 20-year-old junior was killed in an automobile accident Tuesday night in Iowa City,” announced the Des Moines Register on January 20 (1993).  As a fitting tribute to his career, Street set an all-time Iowa record in his last game, making his 34^th consecutive free throw, at the Duke game January 16.

Chris Street gave my son Eric an autograph after Iowa’s high school all star team beat a visiting Russian team the summer of 1990.  During the game, I told Eric to watch Chris closely because I could see that he was going to be a star one day.  After seeing how he dealt with the adoring kids who surrounded him after the game, I also saw that he was something special as a human being.

In recent conversations with acquaintances about the deaths of these two basketball giants, I heard mentioned several times that “it just shows that basketball isn’t all that important.”  If you just look at basketball as a game, I suppose that I’d have to agree with that sentiment.  However, if you look at basketball as a part of life – and their lives centered around basketball – then you start to gain a different perspective.  Through their involvement in the game of basketball, each made a hefty contribution to society.  They were role models to the others around them, serving as examples of how hard work, determination, and teamwork can help one succeed in any endeavor.  The bottom line:  through basketball, both men made a positive impact on this earth. 

Who says basketball isn’t important?