My Greatest Defining Moment by Tommy Burleson, Avery County Former NBA & NC State Basketball Player, NCAA National Champion.
My grandfather, a preacher of the gospel, started Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church where I was saved when I was 15 years old. My grandparents and mother were instrumental in making sure I went to church every Sunday and Wednesday night. They were good role models for me as a young Christian. My physical attributes came from my father who was in the military. He taught me the value of developing my athletic abilities. A three-mile run became normal for me as well as working on calisthenics, which were very important. Between the four of them, I had a good, solid combination of role models in my young Christian life. Church Was Where I Needed to Be My high school years in Avery were good. When it came time for college at North Carolina State University, I needed direction. Everything was wide open but, thankfully, a friend of our family’s, Evelyn F. Alexander, who grew up in the Hughes Community, called mom and promised to take me to church. This was a key point in my time at State. Of course, I didn’t want to go but after the first six weeks or so, I knew it was the right thing to do. If it had been left up to me, I may have backslidden my first year in college. But I realized being in church was where I needed to be. Once college students get away from home, they don’t realize that they haven’t accumulated enough wisdom to direct their own lives. I was no different. Recognized as a Winner It was fun to help out in the church during my years in Raleigh while I played on State’s first national championship team. We ended the reign of the seven-time NCAA Division I basketball and their dynasty, UCLA. That NC State team is still considered the most dominate team ever. It was exciting to achieve such success in the college basketball ranks. Everyone knows that is the brass ring. We accomplished every coaches’ and players’ dream. It was a defining moment. We were “recognized as a winner”. UCLA’s players tried to make excuses as to why they lost. We won because we were able to pull together as a team, had a great coach Norman Sloan and we had David Thompson, one of the game’s best ever. David had a strong Christian background as I did. I truly believe that is what drew him and me together. It’s very hard to go to the NBA, National Basketball Association. It is a major step up in one’s basketball career
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and it has unique opportunities and challenges all its own. Seattle asked me to join their team and when I got there I tried to do things in a proper way. Being the third person drafted that year, new experiences came daily. Living Life Away From Christ
After some time in Seattle, I realized my desire to start a family. I married a young woman I had dated in college. Before marriage, we met often with a pastor and discussed all the issues married people encounter, including raising children. After three years of marriage, I told her that I wanted children. She told me she didn’t want a family. Anyone who knows me knows that children had to be part of my life. I thought I had done everything the proper way, but my marriage fell apart. After the divorce, I was angry with God. I turned my back on Christ. I quit attending church and started going to the wrong places. I began drinking and, even more foolishly, I began playing basketball very recklessly. I was with various woman and committed fornication. Before long, I found myself living a life away from my Christian faith, from Jesus Christ. Everything changed in February 1979 when the Kansas City Kings were playing in Philly. Phil Ford and Maurice Cheeks were arguing and I was trying to bring peace between them, when a player, whom shall remain nameless, hit my leg sideways. The hit severed three ligaments in my knee. As basketball injuries go, this was known as a career ender. The doctor sent me to a research hospital in Kansas City, Kansas. For some strange reason, my meds got messed up and my temperature soared to 102 degrees. I was packed in ice but was not expected to live through it. The doctor even prepared my death certificate. Mom prayed over me all night long. The next day, I came out of the coma. I was in a body cast and a wheel chair for 6 months. Rehabilitation took over 18 months. The doctors told me my career was over, but I wouldn’t give up. I was the first player to ever return from this kind of injury with loss of 65 to 75 percent ability, but I was big enough to be a utility player with the Atlanta Hawks. So, here after what should have been a career ending injury, I was back playing in the NBA averaging five points and two rebounds per game. My knee continued to swell and there was lots of pain. Finally, I realized that if I didn’t retire, I’d reinjure my knee. This, too, was a defining moment in my life. It Was Time to Live My Own Faith I still had a home in Seattle and went back there to live. A friend invited me to church. Mercer Island Methodist Church was only two blocks from my house but I’d never gone there. The pastor, Dr. Frank Woolridge, took an interest in me and I realized I needed to start going. On June 23, 1981, I rededicated myself to the Christ. I was baptized in Lake Washington. As I spent time at Mercer Lake, I began to realize what Christ was doing in my life and how I needed Him in my life, directing it.
