This past week, the basketballl world lost a great participant in the game he loved. His name is Bill Sharman and he was my idol and my friend. We both called Porteville, CA (I was born there) our home and we actually coached in the NBA (Los Angeles and Portland) at the same time. Not bad for a town of 9,000.

I first met Bill when I was 12 years old. He had just come home form his tour in the Navy and would be entering USC in the fall. For the summer, he was playing fast pitch softball for a team managed by my uncle Arlen. The San Joaquin Valley League was equal to any in the country. Bill played shortstop and hit over .300 for the season. No mean feat in itself. My Dad and I were at every game, home or away (Mom was at most).

I knew about Bill’s exploits as an athlete at Porterville High as I live six miles north in Strathmore (love those small town athletes). At Porterville, Bill was All-Valley in football, basketball and baseball. In his spare time he set a valley record in the long jump. It was broken a few years later by a fair athlete named Rafer Johnson (Those small … you know). Besides that, in his spare time he and his mixed doubles partner won the Valley in Tennis. However, Bill had his eye on two sports at USC, basketball and baseball. Oh yeah, he was All-American in both.

His basketball career at USC is legendary. His shootouts with Stanford’s George Yardley in the times they played against each other and for the conference scoring lead are part of PAC 8 lore. (Remember, back in the day?) Bill probably played just as well in baseball, but college baseball didn’t draw as much attention in those days.

By the time he graduated from USC, I was clear I wanted to “be like Bill.” I followed every step of his career with the Celtics and the Dodgers organization. I remember he hit .296 with 26 stolen bases for St. Paul (AAA) one year. The Dodgers called him up in time to witness Bobby Thompson’s “shot heard round the world” for the NY Giants in 1951.

When Bill started his coaching career he hired me as his assistant at Cal State, LA in the spring of 1964. Late that summer he decided to take a job as a color man on St. Louis Hawks broadcasts with broadcasting legend, Buddy Blattner. It was a shot to get back into the NBA circle and he took it. I kept my assistant’s job at Bill’s insistence, so he is the one that got me into college coaching.

Just prior to the Cal St, LA coaching gig, I had played in the American Basketball League (no, not the ABA) against teams coached by Bill so we had stayed connected. The thing that was clear to me was Bill’s determination to coach in the NBA was going to happen. He played that way and lived his life that way. He was always a fighter. And, he was a four-time NBA Champion with the Celtics.

Wherever I played or coached the model in my mind was Bill Sharman. Did you know that the “shoot-around” in basketball was an idea that he made popular? If you don’t know what that is, ask any high school or college player. If a small town kid from Porterville could achieve his dream, why not another one? The world is a better place because you were in it, Bill Sharman. Thank you and I love you.

PS. You are still the best middle distance jump shooter ever.