i n a s s o c i at i o n w i t h t h e
w o r l d b a s k e t b a l l f e s t i va l 3 0 / 6 / 1 2
JR: This was our very first women’s team and this girl [centre] is now coaching in the States. She’s 6’7”, her name is Felicia. That was in the ‘80s and you can look at the hairstyles from the Soul Glo era. There is a long way to go for women’s sport in this country and I’d like to think we have tried to be as prominent as anybody.
AP: This is our current senior men’s team that won the oldest cup in British basketball, the National Cup – that’s basketball’s version of the FA Cup – in 2011. It was the only trophy we hadn’t won and we’ve got the whole set in our cabinet now.
JR: We’ve never had a kid in trouble and that’s one of our
best achievements...probably because they’re too bloody tired! (laughs)
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JR: When Luol Deng was first coming to train he turned up late so I gave him a 20lb weighted jacket to wear. He was 11. He turned the punishment into something positive and ran home from training wearing it. He had a vision and thought ‘I’m gonna do it’. Now of course he’s the first British player to make the NBA All Star team.
for tickets, info and to find out how to get involved in the world basketball festival, go to www.facebook.com/theLSB
Paper texture created by lassekorsgaard. Nice.
AP: You can see I’ve worn the jacket too much and the arms have gone a bit pink. Some of the medals are so old they’ve got water damage on them. I’m lucky to have lived my passion. There are lots of headaches, but many parents will worship Jimmy as most kids get a degree and job after going through our programme.
AP: When Michael Jordan first got signed by Nike, that was when they constituted the Air Jordan stuff, so he came bearing gifts. No one had heard of Air Jordans then and he was only 22 or 23. He was wearing the original black and red Jordan Ones and we all got a pair. Had I known, I would’ve kept them in a box and said “Michael gave me these”. But we all wore them to death! [laughs] They were FREE SHOES! Remember, at the time, he was a big deal but not yet a global phenomenon.