REBOUND Magazine Winter 2013-2014 by Matt Fish

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From Rebound Magazine

Fish Talk NBA Tip-Oﬀ

Welcome to the NBA Tip-Off Issue. Another NBA season is underway! I am excited Rebound continues to grow and include more and more resources that prove helpful for the needs of our membership. In this issue, you will find interesting articles on past players, financial advice, franchise education, a recap of the Legends World Sports Conference, the Jerry Colangelo’s Hall of Fame Golf Classic and more. I hope you enjoy the NBA Tip-Off edition. I want to remind the readership that this magazine is first and foremost for professional basketball players, a resource for your benefit. If there is anything that you would like to see in Rebound, please reach out to me and give me your ideas. Rebound, being the Official Magazine of the NBRPA is shared by all of us and I want to make sure that the readers feel like it is something that they want to pick up and read because of interesting and helpful content. The book will move more into the history of professional basketball, where your fellow teammates and former opponents are and what they are up to, mentorship advice shared by seasoned veterans, articles to learn about the various events, programs and services that are made available through the NBRPA and beyond. Please allow me to share a little Fish-food story, a personal tidbit. My eight year old daughter, Noelle recognizes that her daddy is tall. She has often asked, “Daddy how was your trip?” and “Were you the tallest person there?” Since I stand a little over 6’ 10” I usually can answer her question with a yes. When I returned from the Legends World Sports Conference, Noelle promptly asked, “Were you the tallest person there?” I answered, “No, there were many people there taller than me.” She seemed a little distraught, confused and upset at my answer. I could only laugh and give her a great big daddy bear hug and let her know that it is alright and that it didn’t matter. A person can be tall and feel insignificant, be short in stature, yet stand over all others in a room. I simply told her, “Sweetheart, you got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your Grandfather was.” -an Irish saying I love you Noelle.

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Legends 2013 I Volume 2 Issue 4

Inside This Issue Features 14 22

Alton Lister: Growing UP in the Heart of Football Country The Flyin’ Illini

Alton Lister: Growing UP in the Heart of Football Country

Departments

Basketball 101: Flair and Function 10 12 NBA Legends We Made This Game Artwork Where Are They Now: Legends Forever 16 18 Boston Celtics Legend Bill Russell We Made This Game: 27 Basketball Hall of Fame Golf Classic Bob Love - “I Wanted to be a Speaker” 29 Success Insider: 34 Five Investing Mistakes You Don’t Have to Make 37 Wealth Management : What’s Your Game Plan? Wealth Monitoring Investments 38 39 Career Transition: What’s Your Game Plan? Sports Lessons Translate to Business Lessons 40 Center Court: 42 CENTER Court Franchising: 47 A Stable Investment in the Hospitality Industry 49 FRANCHISING Part 1: How To Make The Game Winning Shot In Franchising Chapter News: Chicago 58 59 Houston New York 60 Suite Life: 62 66

Behind the Bench The Art of Giving

Legends: 70 72

Howard Smith “of the Globetrotters” Jerome Williams Former Knick

Inside This Issue

2 6 7 20 78 4

Fish Talk NBA Tip-Oﬀ - Matt Fish NBRPA gives back - Arnie D. Fielkow Legends World Sports Conference Creating the Best Playlist Ever HEARSTRONG Foundation

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LEGACY Project: Bill Russell

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NBRPA gives back

Dear NBRPA Members, Basketball is an international sport that has gifted many of you with one-of-a-kind, international experiences that changed your perspective on life and the world as you know it. We recognize this at the NBRPA national office and as we grow as a philanthropic organization, it is important that we remember that the game of basketball has no borders – especially as it pertains to giving back. The NBRPA recently completed a successful and productive goodwill trip to Haiti from October 21-25, 2013. Sponsored in part by the Government of the Republic of Haiti, the philanthropic itinerary included press events, site-seeing tours, basketball exhibitions, youth development sessions, community visits and a Sports Business Forum event. Former NBA players on the trip included Haitian Americans Mario Elie (3-time NBA Champion) and Olden Polynice (Seattle SuperSonics), as well as LaRue Martin (former No. 1 overall pick), Dwight Davis (former No. 3 overall pick), Harvey Catchings (Milwaukee Bucks) and Eldridge Recasner (Atlanta Hawks). I was lucky enough to fill the NBRPA staff role on this trip and accompany our members to Haiti. This was an eye-opening trip for all of us – eye-opening as it pertains to the poverty and challenges the country faces, and even more eye-opening as it pertains to the wonderful spirit and kindness of the Haitian people. With the help of Spalding, the NBRPA donated basketball equipment to Haitian communities in need. While the Haitian capitol of Port-auPrince served as home base for the Legends of Basketball during the tour, the NBRPA also ventured into the impoverished Central Plateau Region and visited medical facilities as part of a partnership with Medishare – a Miami-based entity dedicated to providing comprehensive health and development services and building capacity in Haiti. The goodwill mission concluded with a Sports Business Forum that took a deep look into how a growing sports industry in Haiti might help drive the country’s economy. The six members that made the trip to Haiti represented the NBRPA with tremendous dignity, professionalism and class. Our group bonded very well and the players were well-accepted everywhere we went. Whether it be press conferences, basketball clinics, school visits, a health care visit to the poorest section of the country, an all-day sports business summit, public speaking and much more, the NBRPA shined and certainly fulfilled our stated mission as an organization of giving back to communities! Sponsors for the trip included: The Government of the Republic of Haiti, Healthshare Global, American Airlines, Doubletree by Hilton Hotel: Miami Airport and Convention Center, Best Western Premier: Petion-Ville, Spalding and the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau. Without their support, this trip could not have happened. More than anything, however, I would like to thank our Board of Directors for having the vision to support our international goodwill initiatives. Trips such as our recent visit to Haiti are tremendously positive for our organization and certainly align the NBRPA with basketball’s worldly profile. As the NBRPA grows, so will our international philanthropy and the opportunity for our members to create additional life experiences. Thank you to all our members for giving back and supporting our global growth.

Yours in basketball,

Arnie D. Fielkow President & CEO 6

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Oﬃcial Publication of the NBRPA Volume 2, Issue 3 I Legends 2013 NBRPA REBOUND MAGAZINE PUBLISHER/CEO

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Otis Birdsong, Chairman of the Board Thurl Bailey, Vice Chairman Marvin Roberts, Treasure Steve Hayes, Secretary Robert A. (Bob) Elliot, Past Chairman Dr. George W. Tinsley Sr., Past Chairman Harvey Catchings, Director Spencer Haywood, Director Larue Martin Jr., Director Johnny Newman, Director © SPORTS MEDIA MARKETING LLC 3317 S. Higley Road, Ste 114-224 Gilbert, Arizona 85297 P 480-586-6941 www.ReboundMagazine.com

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LEDGENDS World Sports Conference

2013 Legends World Sports Conference With more than 250 Attendees The Conference was a Wonderful Success

The 2013 Legends World Sports Conference was a great time! The National Basketball Retired Player Association (NBRPA) hosted its annual conference September 2022 at Club Med Sandpiper Bay in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Sandpiper Bay is a 216-acre resort ideal for families and couples seeking gourmet dining, premium beverages and a wide array of sports on land and water. The all-inclusive resort is located on the east coast of Florida and stretches along the lush vegetation of the St. Lucie River, between Miami and Orlando, and only a 30-minute drive from West Palm Beach. The conference — presented by Wells Fargo — was a wonderful success, with more than 250 attendees. Other participating partners were Professional Athlete Franchise Initiative powered by FranNet, Florida International University Health, Choice One Mobile, Retired Professional Athlete Group, Trilogy, DirtySixer Bikes, EarQ, Northern Trust, Florida A&M University, O’Happy Day Travel, Thuzio, Something Inked, Boston’s Pizza, CKE Restaurants, Del Taco, East Coast Wings, Massage Heights, Zaxby’s, Miss Jessie’s and Rebound Magazine sponsored by ProPel Franchising. NBRPA Members attending the conference received a complimentary hotel room and took advantage of Sandpiper Bay’s ﬁrst-rate golf facilities, while also receiving a host of all-inclusive entertainment, dining and learning opportunities. The event is widely recognized as the premiere gathering of its kind for former professional basketball players to learn, network and unite for community service. The conference did not disappoint. Friday the members began showing up in droves. Some bused in from airports while others drove due to proximity. During registration, members networked with the sponsors at their booths and enjoyed each other’s company. In the early evening we all gathered for the Legends welcome, many looking dapper in their resort wear, with smiles worn by everyone. The members, their families and sponsors were then treated to a riveting speech by Pat Williams. Mr. Williams is a motivational speaker and sports executive,

currently serving as Senior Vice President of the NBA’s Orlando Magic. His speech was well received as he spoke about what it takes to be a leader. Along with his advice, he also communicated the need for vision, optimism, hope and inspiration. If you have never had the honor and pleasure to hear this inspiring man speak, then you need to do so. Afterwards, everyone spent time with each other, enjoying music, dancing, and fellowship. Saturday morning the members and sponsors all gathered in the conference room for breakfast. The day was started with the presentation of the colors and our own Thurl Bailey sang a beautiful rendition of God Bless America and The Star Spangled Banner. Sponsors had an opportunity to speak about what they can oﬀer to the members and then we broke out into workshop sessions. There was plenty to learn about the new programs and services available through the organization’s ongoing eﬀorts. The breakout sessions were enlightening and valuable. Conference workshop sessions featuring industry experts covering a variety of relevant topics were also a key highlight of the weekend. NBRPA Members had free REBOUND

access to many experts in fields including Jobs in Sports, Finance, Career Transition, Continuing Education, Professional Speaking & Broadcasting, Social Media, Health & Wellness, Networking, Franchise Opportunities and more. The NBRPA members gave back to Florida youth with basketball clinics in nearby Orlando and Miami as part of its Full Court Press: Prep for Success program on Sept. 21 and 28, respectively. Highlights of the weekend included a visit to Children’s Hospital of Miami. The NBRPA announced a new free health program with Florida International University and a free business certification program for members at Florida A&M University. In addition, current NBA player James Jones — a Vice President for the National Basketball Players Association — spoke at the NBRPA Members meeting and promised greater collaboration and support of former players by the union. “We had a wonderful long weekend of networking, learning and community service,” said NBRPA President & CEO Arnie D. Fielkow. “The 2013 Legends World Sports Conference was a great success. Thank you to our partners for making this annual gathering of former basketball greats possible.” Finally, the NBRPA unveiled a new brand and logo to better represent the association. The new logo represents the past, present and future of the organization and will be the NBRPA’s primary brand and colors moving forward. Everyone in attendance took advantage of Florida’s warm sun on the golf course, at the pool, or both. This all-inclusive resort satisfied the need to relax, soak up some sun, have a few drinks, and eat way too much great food. I would like to thank the NBRPA for putting on a well-organized and meaningful event. As always, it was great to catch up with old friends, make new acquaintances and, in my case, enjoy reconnecting with my wife. I was happy to attend and report on the conference in Rebound Magazine. My wife Rebecca and I had a fantastic time as the LWSC took place during our anniversary. Thurl Bailey singing the national anthem

Legends Lounge 8

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Bill Williams with Harvey Catchings

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NBA Style

By Mike Vayan

Flair and Function Flair and Function. Two words that can help describe the trends in playing style of basketball throughout history. Flair is an objective yet distinct term very prominent in modern day basketball. From the time a child picks up a ball and learns to dribble he has intentions of being able to bounce the ball through his legs and around his back and although this flies in the face of “fundamental” ball handling skills there will come a time on the court where this skill may help freeze the defender thus making an assist or scoring a basket. Function. In the infancy of basketball there was little in the form of what we would consider flair in the style of the game. If you watch video from the early days of basketball you may be stunned in the robotic actions of the players of the day. As you progress in time those robotic actions evolve into more fluid and athletic movements and as a result there are more points being scored and rules begin to change to capitalize on the emerging skill sets and creativity of the players.

Ossie Schectman By the time Ossie Schectman scored the first basket in the Basketball Association of America (later to become the National Basketball Association) on November 1st 1946 basketball had been in existence for over 50 years. During that time the game had grown from a gym class activity to a spectator sport. The first actual peach baskets had evolved into a rim and net and the basketball had developed from a soccer ball. The 10’ height of the rim has been the same however since Dr Naismith invented the game. Professional basketball during the 40s and 50s began to gain on football and baseball in popularity albeit in small increments. What we see in today’s high flying, fast paced, star10

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studded version of the game of basketball can be traced back to several key factors. The NBA style of play early on was rather flat footed and mechanical. The basic set shot was the primary point scoring method. That was until Joe Fulks made his appearance on the court. Although used on occasion in the past Fulks is considered the first innovator of the jump shot. “Jumpin’ Joe” as he was known used this technique to become one of the leading scorers of his day only being surpassed by the 6’ 10” George Mikan. His prolific scoring ability labeled him the Babe Ruth of Basketball for revolutionizing the game as it had never been played before. The defenses of the time had no answer for the 6’ 5” Fulks who once scored 63 points in a game, a record that would stand until Elgin Baylor scored 64 in a game 10 years later. Joe Fulks’ flair in spinning, running jump shots were revolutionary at a time when the game was played well below the rim in contrast to todays above the rim style. Ball handling skills of early basketball is virtually unrecognizable in light of today’s game. This would change in part due to The Harlem Globetrotters. The Globetrotters began in Chicago in the 1920s and by the 1940s were a very popular and entertaining version of the game. The team was one the nation’s best during the early 40s as the athleticism of the Globetrotters had made them the face of basketball at the time while the upstart NBA was still in its infancy. As the NBA grew the Globetrotters evolved into a primarily entertainment organization. Due to this exciting and very athletic style popularity for the game grew as NBA teams started to fill their rosters with current and former Globetrotters during the 1950s. As popularity grew for the NBA during the 1960s so did the need to evolve as baseball and football continued its dominance of the sporting arena. The short lived American Basketball Association was to fuel this evolution. Formed as a competing league to the NBA the ABA was established in 1967 and although it lasted a brief 10 years it changed the way the professional game was played and marketed. The NBA game was still rather fundamental in style and appearance as opposed to the cre-

Joe Fulks ative athleticism and flair as signified by the red, white and blue basketball which remains to this day the most iconic image of the league. The ABA introduced the 3 point line as a way to open up the court and provide more scoring opportunities to capitalize on the speed and athleticism of smaller players. The 3 point lines as well as the “slam dunk” were also used as marketing tools to compete with the NBA. The ABA players of the late 60s and 70s took flair to the next level. The future NBA Hall of Famer and former ABA legend Julius Dr. J Erving possessed the incredible athleticism and giant hands capable of creating some of the most memorable and amazing plays in all of basketball. His ability to palm the basketball mixed with an incredible leaping ability gave rise to playing above the rim and using the finger roll and slam dunk as dominating scoring weapons. The ABA also gave rise to the “Slam Dunk Contest” in 1974 during its final year with Dr. J winning the event. This contest would not be seen again until 1984. After the ABA/NBA merger the game grew in popularity and as the 70s concluded there were two players who took center stage in making the NBA the game it is today. On March 26th, 1979 Indiana States Larry Bird met Michigan States Magic Johnson for the NCAA title thus forming a rivalry that would make the leap to the NBA. The Boston Celtics led by Larry

George Mikan and Shaquille O’Neil. Bird would be the dominant team of the Eastern division and the Magic Johnson led Los Angeles Lakers would dominate the Western Division. The Celtics or Lakers made appearances in every NBA finals from 1980 to 1989 with the Lakers beating the Celtics in two of three exciting series. This rivalry fueled the popularity of the NBA with Bird’s incredible shot making abilities mirrored by Johnson’s unbelievable athleticism. These two exemplified the words flair and function as Magic Johnson used no-look passes to dazzle opponents and fans alike while Bird, although not

blessed with Johnson’s athleticism, used his work ethic and shot making abilities to garner equal admiration. This rivalry would carry the NBA into the 90s as the NBA grew to rival the NFL and overtake Major League Baseball in popularity. As the Bird/Johnson rivalry was in full gear a young gifted player emerged to take the NBA and professional sports to unprecedented levels. The NBA would reach a pinnacle beginning in 1984 as a young player out of the University of North Carolina stepped on the court as a Chicago Bull. Flair and function would culminate in one man and one era in the name of Michael Jordan. Possibly the greatest most celebrated most recognizable athlete in the world he utilized his abilities to become the greatest player the NBA had ever seen. His timing could not have been greater. The NBA was ramping up to be the most exciting, fast paced, star studded league in the world and its ultimate ambassador had arrived. Jordan took the world by storm with his awe inspiring play and gritty competitiveness. He was the epitome of ﬂair and function during his career as 6 NBA championships attest. There have been many in the history of basketball that have propelled the game beyond what it was before them and there will be many more who will take the game to levels yet seen. From ‘Jumpin’ Joe Fulks to today’s dominance by Lebron James there have been thousands of players, coaches and owners who have paved the way for the exciting, fast paced above the rim style of basketball we see today. Fascinating advancements are inevitably going to produce better, faster and stronger players taking the game to levels we cannot image today.

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NBA Legends

NBA Legends of Basketball We Made This Game Artwork The Legacy of a professional basketball player comes from many personal experiences of playing the game at its highest level. Our NBA license agreement allows us the rare opportunity of oﬀering retired players and current players the opportunity to have their own custom made Player’s personal piece of the NBA Legends of Basketball- We Made This Game Artwork. 10, 20 even 50 and more years from now, your legacy will be remembered by your family every time they look at your NBA Legends piece. How do you own your personal NBA Legends of Basketball piece? It’s easy! Just pick out your favorite game photo in uniform that would be placed in the center of the 60 NBA greats on the collage. Then select up to 10 out of the 60 NBA greats that have already autographed their personal photos, which would then surround your center

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image on your personal NBA Legends of Basketball collage. MICHAEL JORDAN, MAGIC JOHNSON, LARRY BIRD, LEBRON JAMES, KOBE BRYANT are some of the 60 NBA greats that participated in creating this remarkable piece of “HISORICAL NBA MEMOROBILIA” that has allowed us to donate over $250,000 to the NBRPA. We have a limited amount of these personal player’s pieces that can be produced and will honor requests on a first come first served basis. We are offering special NBRPA member prices, so just contact us and we will be happy to work out the details that will provide you the best value for your own personal Legends of Basketball – We Made This Game artwork.

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW: Alton Lister

Growing UP in the Heart of Football Country Alton Lister grew up in the heart of football country, Dallas Texas. The problem is he grew, and grew and grew. He grew so much that he grew too tall for football but the gridiron’s loss was the hardwood’s gain. Lister was six-foot-10 at Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas and played the trombone, when the basketball coach talked him into forgetting about football and his music career and concentrate on basketball. It was the right choice. Lister was named to the All American and All-State teams and was also inducted to the school’s Hall of Fame in 1990. Following high school Lister attended San Jacinto Junior College where he again earned All-American honors, leading the nation in rebounds and blocked shots. Because of all the success the big man had in high school and junior college he was recruited by just about every college in the country. He decided on a school that was best known for its football program but was up and coming in basketball, Arizona State University. “I was very heavily recruited by a lot of schools, the top schools, Louisville, SC, Syracuse all the Southwest Conference schools but when I came out to Arizona State there was something about it I really liked,” admitted Lister, who grew two more inches after high school to seven-foot. “The environment, the guys on the team, the coaches I re-

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ally liked. I just knew that this was the place.” At the time ASU was coached by the legendary Ned Wulk who was the school’s most successful coach compiling a record of 406 – 272 (.599) from 19581982. Also on the team were three other players who were number one picks in the NBA including long time Alton Liste with Dennis Waitley SDUIS stars Bryon Scott Graduation Speakers and Fat Lever. “That was one of the things that drew me to ASU,” Lister said. “I was told that I could go somewhere that was established and just be another good player on a good team or I could start something here and rebuild and do something special. Plus, Coach Wulk said that they would prepare me to get my degree.” The 1980-81 Sun Devil team, Lister’s senior year, is considered by many to be the school’s best team ever. They registered a 16-2 mark in Pac-10 play, were 24-4 overall and were ranked third in the nation. That season was capped by a win over the top-ranked and undefeated Oregon State; however ASU lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament to Kansas. Lister ﬁnished his college career with an 8.2 rebound average and 148 career bocks. He was inducted to the Arizona State Hall of Fame in 2000. In 1980 Lister was named to the United States Olympic team. The games were to be played in Moscow, Russia. The squad boasted a powerful lineup which included, Isaiah Thomas, Sam Bowie, Mark Aguirre, Buck Williams and Rolando Blackman. The team was heavily favored but they never had a chance to play. President Jimmy Carter ordered the US. Olympic Committee to boycott the Olympics because of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. “The hardest thing was we had to go through the whole process of trials, in Colorado Springs and we were preparing as if we were going to go but at the last minute politics got involved,” Lister said. “We felt we had a really good chance. It was a disappointment because that is a dream to play for your country, wear the red, white and blue. Even looking back now that was one of the biggest highlights of my career, being a part of it.” Following Lister’s senior year at ASU he was selected in the ﬁrst round of the NBA Draft, 21st overall, by the

Alton Lister on KUSI Milwaukee Bucks. There he played behind Hall of Fame center Bob Lanier, who Lister calls his mentor. He was also under the tutelage of head coach Don Nelson but that according to Lister wasn’t easy and took some time to get used to. “It was a very humbling experience. You go from all this success in college to being the last on the totem pole,” Lister said, “When I would come out of the game Nelly would meet me at half court and be on me like you couldn’t imagine. A lot of that really built perseverance, made me tougher and showed me what pro-basketball was really about. I wouldn’t have, had it any other way. I really appreciate all the things he did to me but then I hated him.” There was a method to Nelson’s madness because Lister put up solid numbers during his tenure with the Bucks and the team made the playoffs all five years he was there. Following the 1986 season Lister was traded to the Seattle Supersonics for Jack Sikma, one of Seattle’s more popular players. Lister compiled maybe his best season in 1987 when he compiled his highest career point average, 11.6. The Sonics also made the playoffs all three years he was in Seattle. After the three season with Seattle Lister was reunited with Coach Nelson when the Golden State Warriors traded future Hall of Famer Gary Payton to acquire the center. Up until that time Lister was extremely durable and missed only 11 games in his first eight years in the NBA. But in Golden State injuries caught up to him and he played sparingly with the Warriors during the next four years. He was waived by the Bucks in 1993 and went on to play for Milwaukee again, Boston and retired in 1997 after playing just seven games with Portland. “The biggest thing that happened to me once I got traded to Golden State was that I had my first major injury I tore my Achilles and that was devastating to me,” Lister said. “I was so used to playing and being available and keeping myself in shape then all of a sudden I was out for the entire year. That was the beginning of the

end. I was never the same. I didn’t have that same spring, balance, running and jumping and all the other things that I brought to the table. In Portland we all decided that the best thing for me to do was to hang up the sneakers.” During his 16-year career, when Lister thought about what he would do after his playing days were over, coaching was far from the top of the list. That changed when Don Nelson contacted Lister and told him that the Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, wanted a coach for every position on the team. Nelson asked Lister if he would be interested i n coaching the Mavs’ big men? At the end of his career, with all the injuries he had suffered that became Lister’s role, mentoring the big men on his respective squads but he felt that he wasn’t quite ready to become a coach in the NBA. So instead he decided to get some seasoning in college and accepted the head-coaching position at Mesa Community College, in Mesa, Arizona. “At that time I did not know if I even wanted to coach so I decided to decline that (Dallas) offer,” Lister said. “I recently got married here in Arizona and wanted to spend more time with my family and at the same time I got the offer at Mesa. I thought let me get my feet wet, see if I really wanted to coach and learn all the ins and outs.” Lister took over the reins at Mesa in 2000. The previous year the Thunderbirds suffered a 9-21 season. Following Lister’s arrival MCC registered five straight 20-plus win seasons. In the seven years Lister was at the helm, 30 players went on to play Division-1 basketball and a high percentage of his players graduated. “I learned that as a coach you wear different hats. You’re a mentor, sometimes you are a friend, sometimes you are a father figure to them and I wanted to make sure they all graduated,” Lister said. “From all my coaches, I tried to take a lot of what they were trying to do and put it into my own coaching philosophy. I was even rough, very rough on freshman. They hadn’t proved anything. “ Lister continued to gain experience coaching at the Pete Newell’s Big Man Camp for several seasons, which led to coaching a one-year coaching stint in the NBA, with the Atlanta Hawks. Then in November of 2008, thanks to the recommendation of one of the Arizona State assistant coaches from his time in Tempe, Paul Howard, Lister was hired as the Skills Coach of the San Miguel Beerman of the Philippine Basketball Association. “Paul had a connection over there. I had never even heard about the Philippines,” Lister said. “In the Philippines it is the number one sport, they treat the players like NBA players and I will tell you, I was compensated very well. They have about 23,000 people at each game. I thought I was only going to be there for a short time but I started liking it.” Lister has remained in the Philippines ever since and is still coaching there. REBOUND

LEGENDS Forever The NBRPA Mourns the Passing of Walter Bellamy

The NBRPA Mourns the Passing of Wes Bialosuknia

November 3, 2013 The NBRPA offers condolences to the family of former NBAWalter Bellamy, the Hall of Fame center who blasted into the NBA like a storm as the No. 1 pick of the Chicago Packers in 1961 averaging 31.6 points and 19 rebounds a game as a rookie and went on to a 14-year NBA career, has passed away at the age of 74. “Walt Bellamy was an enormously gifted Hall of Fame player who had a tremendous impact on our game,” NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a released statement. “Off the court, he was an even more extraordinary person. Walt is going to be missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing him. On behalf of the entire NBA family, our condolences and thoughts go out to Walt’s family.” At 6’11” “Bells” was known as a physical, bruising center right out of the old school we don’t see much in the NBA anymore. His size and athleticism earned the respect of guys like Bill Russell who had to bring their best to beat him, despite him being on lesser teams. Over the course of his career he averaged 19.4 points and 13.2 rebounds shooting 51.6 percent, he had a career PER of 19.8. He was a contemporary of Wilt Chamberlain and Russell but he was overshadowed by those guys, who were on teams that won rings. “The Atlanta Hawks family is saddened to learn of the death of Walt Bellamy at the age of 74 earlier today,” the Hawks said in a statement. “The Hawks and the National Basketball Association have lost a giant. As an Olympic gold medalist, the first overall pick in 1961, Rookie of the Year in 1962, a four-time All-Star and a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, his on-court accomplishments were overwhelming. Off the court, he was equally impactful as a family man, leader in the community, mentor and friend to many.” Our thoughts go out to his family.

October 28, 2013 The NBRPA offers condolences to the family of former NBA draft pick and ABA player Wes Bialosuknia, who passed away at the age of 68. The 6-foot-2 native of Poughkeepsie, NY played collegiately for the University of Connecticut, where he still holds the Huskies’ season and career scoring average records and was named a member of UConn Basketball’s All-Century Team. His 1966-67 average of 28 PPG ranked fifth in the nation and he still holds the UConn records for career scoring average at 23.6 PPG, as well as consecutive foul shots made (43). In 1967, he was named MVP of the annual North-South College All-Star Game. Bialosuknia was selected 37th overall by the St. Louis Hawks in the 1967 NBA Draft, however he instead made his way to the Oakland Oaks of the ABA. From 1967-68, the “Poughkeepsie Popper” played in 70 games for the Oaks, making his mark as one of pro basketball’s first 3-point shooting specialists. Bialosuknia finished second in the league in 3-point shooting percentage that season and his nine consecutive 3-pointers made is tied for the most in ABA history. Bialosuknia lived in Bristol, Conn., and after his season with the Oaks he became a reporter for the Hartford Times. In life after basketball, Bialosuknia was an avid hiker and outdoorsman and also coached youth basketball. Bialosuknia is survived by his wife of 39 years, Maureen (Tackett) Bialosuknia; daughter Jane, son-in-law Arturo Portillo, their children, Tomas and Sophia; son John and daughter-in-law Angela (Kress) Bialosuknia; sister Jane and brother-in-law Tracy Scott; mother-in-law Mary Tackett; several brothers and sisters-in-law: Ann and Clyde Fitch, James Tackett, Tom and Diane Tackett, Barbara Meyers, Fran and George Showman, Jerry and Josie Tackett and many nieces and nephews.

The NBRPA Mourns the Passing of Alvin Clinkscales November 3, 2013 Alvin Clinkscales, Connecticut Basketball Legend, Passes Away At 81. Alvin Clinkscales, former All-American college basketball player and father of The Shadow League’s CEO, Keith Clinkscales, passed away yesterday in Bridgeport, CT. He was 81 years old. Mr. Clinkscales was a legend within the history of Connecticut basketball. A standout at Central High School, an All-American at Arnold College (which merged into the University of Bridgeport in 1953), a Harlem Globetrotter and the ﬁrst Black high school basketball coach in the State of Connecticut at Notre Dame High School, Mr. Clinkscales had deep roots in Connecticut, working and raising a family in the Constitution State

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The NBRPA Mourns the Passing of Bill Sharman

The NBRPA Mourns the Passing of Joe C. Meriweather

October 25, 2013 The NBRPA offers condolences to the family of former NBA player and coach Bill Sharman, who passed away at the age of 87. A 6-foot-1 guard, Sharman was a second round draft pick of the Washington Capitals in 1950. Renowned for his shooting ability, Sharman became the first NBA player to have a fieldgoal percentage above .400 for a season. He is ranked as one of the NBA’s top freethrow shooters of all-time. Most of his 11-year career in the NBA was spent with the Boston Celtics. Sharman appeared in eight NBA All-Star games and won four titles as a player before retiring in 1961. Nearly a decade later, in 1971, Sharman became the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and led the team to its first NBA championship. Prior to the NBA, he signed with the Dodgers in 1950 and played professional baseball for five years. Sharman was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1976. In 2004, he was inducted as a coach, becoming one of only three men to be honored in both roles. In 1996, he was selected as one of the 50 greatest player’s of the NBA’s first 50-years.

October 15, 2013 The NBRPA offers condolences to the family of former NBA player Joe C. Meriweather, who passed away at the age of 59. A 6-foot-10 center/power forward, Meriweather was a first round pick of the Houston Rockets in 1975 and earned NBA All-Rookie honors in his first season with the Rockets, averaging 10.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks. Meriweather went on to a 10-year NBA career with the Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks, New Orleans Jazz, New York Knicks, and Kansas City Kings. For his career, Meriweather averaged 8.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks. Prior to being drafted, he played for the United States National Team during the 1974 FIBA World Championship, helping the Americans to a bronze medal. Following his NBA career, Meriweather played three seasons overseas in Italy and Spain. After retiring, he served as the head women’s basketball coach at Park University in Parkville, Missouri from 1997 to 2010.

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LEGACY Project

By Heather Walker

Boston Celtics Legend Bill Russell Statue to Be Unveiled On Boston City Hall Plaza

A sculpture honoring William Felton “Bill” Russell designed by local Artist Ann Hirsch in collaboration with Pressley Associates and with the Boston Art Commission will be unveiled on Boston City Hall Plaza. A special ceremony to honor him emcee’d by TNT NBA Analyst Kenny Smith will include: Bill Russell- the Boston Celtics Legend himself, Bill Russell’s daughter Karen Kenyatta Russell, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, Co-Owner, Managing Partner, and Shamrock Foundation President Stephen Pagliuca, Celtics Managing Partner, Governor, CEO and Co-Owner Wyc Grousbeck, Celtics Managing Partner and Co-owner Bob Epstein, Team President Rich Gotham, Congressman Joe Kennedy III, NBA Commissioner David Stern, NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver along with Arnold “Red” Auerbach’s daughters Randy and Nancy Auerbach Collins. Other guests include: NFL Icon and Activist Jim Brown, MLB Great Joe Morgan, MLB Great Frank Robinson, NBA Icon Julius “Dr. J” Erving, NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, NBA Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor, NBA Hall of Famer Clyde “The Glide” Drexler, NBA Hall of Famer George “The Iceman” Gervin, NBA Great Fred “Downtown” Brown, Chairman of the Professional Basketball Club, LLC. Clay Bennett, Co-founder and board member of The National Mentoring Partnership Geoﬀ Boisi, CEO of the National Mentoring Partnership David Shapiro, CEO of the Mass Mentoring Partnership Marty Martinez, President and Chief of Operations for the Golden State Warriors Rick Welts, Musical Legend Johnny Mathis, Musical Icon Bill Withers, Country Music Star Ron Harbin, Former Senior Advisor to the President David Axelrod, Isabel

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Wilkerson and Pulitzer Prize Winning Author of The Warmth of Other Suns, Pultizer Prize Winner Taylor Branch best known for his Martin Luther King Trilogy; RFK’s Daughter, Author and Human Rights Activist Kerry Kennedy, LSU Men’s Basketball Head Coach and Celtics alumni Johnny Jones, Celtics alumni Emmette “Em” Bryant, Celtics alumni Togo Palazzi, Celtics alumni Ronnie Watts, Celtics alumni Rick Weitzman, Celtics Legend Tommy Heinsohn, Celtics Legend Sam Jones, Celtics Legend Satch Sanders, Celtics Legend Bill Walton, Celtics Legend JoJo White, Celtics alumni Jim Loscutoff’s wife Lynn Loscutoff, Russell Family Friend MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell host of the The Last Word and Hollywood Actress Alfre Woodard. In 2011, President Barack Obama gave Bill Russell the highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. During the ceremony, President Obama said he hoped that Boston would build a statue of Russell, “I hope that one day in the streets of Boston, children will look up at a statue built not only to Bill Russell the player, but Bill Russell the man.” “I think the President’s comments certainly catalyzed a lot of thoughts and efforts that were going on in the city,’’ Celtics Co-owner and President of the Shamrock Foundation Stephen Pagliuca, who collaborated extensively with Mayor Thomas M. Menino to honor Russell. “The Mayor has been the #1 biggest fan of this statue. So I think those comments really helped bring the Bill Russell Legacy Project Committee Members together to get this statue done. It’s so exciting because now it’s become a reality.” The Bill Russell Statue was created by Ann Hirsch, a Somerville based artist. Hirsch’s approach focuses on the body, movement and traditional sculp-

ture technique to create spaces for interaction that enhance the experience of a place. The artwork represents Bill Russell the whole man, honoring him as an athlete, coach, human rights activist, ground breaker and mentor. The larger than life sculpture of Russell is on a low base in game action, poised with basketball in hand about to pass the ball to a teammate. He aims towards a lowstanding, open stone engraved with Mr. Russell’s quote, “The most important measure of how good a game I’d played was how much better I’d made my teammates play.” As visitors step up on the open base, ready to catch the pass, they become a teammate, not only in the game of basketball, but in continued advocacy for human rights and mentorship programming. Ten granite blocks, surround Russell for a total of 11 elements representing Mr. Russell’s 11 championships with the Boston Celtics. Each plinth features a key word and a corresponding quotation to illuminate the myriad of accomplishments spanning Mr. Russell’s career both on and off the court. The artwork is inscribed in a field of brick and granite pavers that reflect the proportions of a court. “Mr. Russell’s legacy is vital to the story of this city in sports and in terms of human rights,” Ann Hirsch said. “I am proud and humbled to have been chosen to create this artwork and am especially thrilled that I will be able to work as a mentor myself by involving local children in my process through the Shamrock Foundation.”

In addition to erecting the statue of Russell, the Bill Russell Legacy Project, along with the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation and Mass Mentoring Partnership developed a Mentoring

Grant program in Russell’s name to ensure his passion for mentoring children is carried on. The grant’s main objective is to expand the resources for mentoring programs in the city of Boston. In the grant’s inaugural year, over $50k in grants were awarded to the following programs: Adoption and Foster Care Mentoring, Generations, Inc. and The DREAM Program, Inc. Sculptures of children will be added in a second phase of the artwork as an extension of the mentorship program. “I am happy to see the Celtics embrace mentoring and create this program that beneﬁts children.” Bill Russell said. “My lifelong passion is to help the mentoring of children and the biggest honor of my career was to be Captain of the Boston Celtics.” Co-chaired by Boston Celtics Managing Partner/Co-owner and

President of the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation Stephen Pagliuca and Boston Philanthropist and Founder of the Bobby Sager Traveling Foundation and Roadshow Bobby Sager, the Bill Russell Legacy Committee includes Boston Mayor Tom Menino, Karen Russell and Russell’s former teammate Tommy Heinsohn. The Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation established the Bill Russell Legacy Fund to act as the major funding vehicle for the project. For more information about the artist and public art in Boston visit the Boston Art Commission’s website: http://www.publicartboston.com/. To learn more about the Bill Russell Legacy Project and to donate to the Legacy Fund, please visit www.billrusselllegacy.org

Randall Bohl Photography Randall has been shooting since receiving his ﬁrst 35mm SLR in 1977. There was a break for college, Western Michigan University, but while studying for a communications degree he met graphic design students and began shooting “commercial work” for their course assignments. Which led upon graduation, to four years as assistant at Jim Powell Advertising Photography in Kalamazoo? Randall Bohl Photography began in San Francisco (9th and Folsom Streets, to be exact). After three years in the Bay Area, Randall relocated to the warmer, dryer climes of Scottsdale, Arizona in 1990. Randall’s personal passion outside of photography is travel by motorcycle-down the street, through the woods or across the country. If it has two wheels and a motor, he probably likes it. Randall Bohl Photography – “anything for the shot”

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MUSIC Creating the Best Playlist Ever

by Joseph Cardillo, Ph.D.

Make the Best Jogging Playlist Ever! Are You One of Those Joggers Who Can’t Even Think of Stepping onto the Road (or Track) Without Your iPod? Well, Science says There is a Good Reason. Here’s Why ...

Music Can Trigger and Maintain Various Mental and Physical States Music works like a high-speed remote control on your behavior. This is because it alters brainwaves as well as blood pressure. It may be capable, for example, of speeding up or slowing down your brainwaves as well as triggering the release of important neuro-chemicals such as dopamine, serotonin and adrenaline into your bloodstream. As a result, songs can highly stimulate or relax you, depending on which way you want to go—up or down—and “optimize” your mindset for situationally specific events—like athletics. The nice thing is that with just a little science you can intensify these effects, make them last longer, and eventually get your mind to produce them almost instantly, all on its own—even without the music. Here’s How You Can Get Started PICK SONGS YOU LIKE A LOT. It really doesn’t matter what kind of music you use. What’s important is that you like it. If you like classical, try Mozart’s “Sonata in D Major K448.” This one is iconic. USE BPM. The easiest way to begin organizing a playlist is to use the songs’ number of beats per minute (BPM). This is because rhythm and tempo have a direct tie-in to alertness and focus, as well as facilitating muscle coordination and movement. A BPM of 130 or greater (as opposed to 100 or lower) has been shown, for example, to increase mental acuity and flow. Faster rhythms increase motivation, alertness, and mental flow so you get a double effect: flowing muscles and a flowing mind—all good news for joggers. Relaxation and calm can be brought on by a lower BPM. To give you the idea, a song like Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” comes in at a moderate 124 BPM, whereas “Turn Me On” by Norah Jones runs a leisurely 56 BPM, and Knack’s “My Sharona” thumps in at a brisk 150 BPM. The Stray Cats’ “Rock This Town” moves at a BPM of 207. You can find your songs’ BPM with a Google or iTunes search PLAYLIST BONUS: If you want to really give yourself a lift, play a song with a slow BPM (90 or preferably even less) and then put on your faster rhythms. TRACK SONGS OF 135-160 BPM. Arrange as would enjoy hearing them. Or after doing your run a few times, you may discover that you begin to naturally prefer certain songs over others at specific points in your jog -- e.g., when you get to the “park,” when you hit the two-mile point or a particular hill and so on. Simply revise your playlist to match what you’d like to hear at those points in your run. ANTICIPATE SONGS AS THEY APPROACH. This will work as a reward, boosting important neuro-chemicals and increasing your feeling of euphoria. ARC YOUR PLAYLIST. You can do this by organizing songs so they gradually increase in BPM, getting you into the flow of things and smoothly getting you up to your desired running speed. Once you hit the keel you’re after, you can keep the playlist’s BPM in a steady range for as long as you like. You can also alternately move it upward (to a higher BPM) with a faster song or songs whenever you feel you want more in terms of oomph or speed. The idea is to figure out when and where you want to pump up your run and program the songs in 20 REBOUND

so they will deliver that effect at those specific points—do the same with same with slower tunes—as they will help you re-charge when you need it, again keeping your steady keel somewhere in the range of 135-160 or whatever is comfortable for your age and skill. You’ll know when a song is too slow or fast because you will literally feel it working against you—you’ll have trouble synchronizing to the tempo or rhythm. Staying in a fast-paced rhythm and tempo for too long will dry up the faucet, so to speak, and the song will become dysfunctional, so you want to avoid that. CONSIDER THE EMOTIONAL CONNECTION. Pick songs that send you the right emotional message to power your run. USE SONGS THAT SPARK FEEL-GOOD MEMORIES. The emotional factor can trump BPM, so don’t be worried about mixing in a song with lower BPM as you arc your playlist. Creating your arc is more about the song’s uplifting or relaxing effect on you than it is about sticking to just tempos. USE SLOW MEDITATIVE MUSIC AT THE END OF YOUR OF YOUR JOG—for a cool-down. Ten to 12 minutes of this as you work through your stretches will leave you feeling like a million bucks. Mixing in a little slow movement, tai chi or yoga at the end will put the frosting on the cake. Here are Some of My Favorite Jogging Songs: I Can See Clearly Now—Jimmy Cliff Let’s Spend The Night Together—The Rolling Stones Brown Eyed Girl—Van Morrison Margaritaville—Jimmy Buffett Rock Around The Clock—Bill Haley & The Comets I Fought the Law—Green Day Karma Chameleon—Sixpack Mrs. Robinson—The Lemonheads Rise Above—Black Flag The Boys Of Summer—The Ataris So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star—The Byrds Turn! Turn! Turn!—The Byrds So have fun and start turning your iPod into your ultimate mind-enhancer. Be flexible in setting up your playlists. Remember, to a large extent numbers are just numbers, suggestions and general markers to inspire you. So whatever works for you, go for it. Enjoy. References: [1] Mindlin, Galina; Cardillo, Joseph; and Du-Rousseau, Donald. Your Playlist Can Change Your Life: 10 Proven Ways Your Favorite Music Can Revolutionize Your Health, Memory, Organization Alertness and More. Sourcebooks. Naperville, Illinois 2012. This article originally appeared in the June 18th edition of Huff Post Healthy Living and is being reprinted by permission of the author and “Huffington Post.” Joseph Cardillo, Ph.D., is the co-author of Your Playlist Can Change Your Life (Sourcebooks, January 1, 2012). A research psychologist, he specializes in com¬plementary healthcare, holistic psychology, and mind-body medi¬cine and is a top selling author in those fields. Other books by Dr. Cardillo include: Can I Have Your Attention? How to Think Fast, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Concentration (Career Books) and Be Like Water(Grand Central Books). For more information on Dr. Cardillo, please visit his website, www.joseph cardillo.com.

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University of Illinois - The Flyin’ Illini These are optimistic times for the University of Illinois men’s basketball program. A series of off-season recruiting victories for second-year head coach John Groce have inspired confidence that the downstate school will once again be rich with Chicago-area hoops talent, the very same type that had every corner of the campus soaked in applause and excitement 25 years ago. 1988-89 Illinois men’s basketball team, dubbed “The Flyin’ Illini” by commentator Dick Vitale at the time, raised Assembly Hall’s first Final Four banner in over four decades, unleashed a wave of orange and blue alumni into the NBA and made Champaign, Illinois the center of college basketball world for a season. Now as they celebrate their silver anniversary and their starting point guard Stephen Bardo is set to release “Flyin’ Illini,” his chronicle of their unforgettable season, the four NBRPA members who starred for the 1988-89 team—Bardo, Kenny Battle, Kendall Gill and Marcus Liberty—sat down to reminisce on the five months they spent as the most exciting team in the land. “We were like rock stars,” said Liberty, a first-year player on the squad whose dynamic, all-around skill set in a 6foot, 8-inches tall package made him the Parade Magazine Boys Basketball Player of the Year coming out of Chicago’s King High School. “Everywhere we went people were congratulating and clapping and just being excited about Illini basketball, because they knew a change was coming.”

The level of change is hard to overstate. No one in the top-11 of the Flyin’ Illini rotation stood taller than 6 feet 8 inches yet none were shorter than 6 feet 4 inches. The daunting array of swingmen with ball-handling skills and midrange-to-outside shooting ability made them matchup nightmares at every position. Undersized center Lowell Hamilton and 6-foot-6-inch shooting guard Nick Anderson combined with Gill and Battle to give the Illini four players averaging 13-18 points per game. Bardo and junior guard Larry Smith both averaged over four assists per game, and Gill only came five dimes shy of reaching the same benchmark. Before “combo guards” who could rebound and “stretch fours” who could drag post defenders out of their comfort zones became household terms, Illini head coach Lou Henson flooded the floor with them. As teams were only beginning to embrace the value of abovethe-rim play, the Illini attacked the rim from every spot on the court. Only when Bardo crossed over to the media and begin providing color commentary on games was he fully struck with the impact the 1988-89 team had on the sport. “Every time I call a game, whether it’s Mike Krzyzewski, Bill Self, John Calipari, they talk about that team. We were so unique. Bill Self went on CBS and said we were his favorite team ever in college basketball. We have tremendous credibility,” Bardo said. With a roster full of Illinois products (every member of the rotation hailed from in-state) the Flyin’ Illini took tremendous pride in representing their state, but like any great squad, their fondest feelings are reserved for the teammates they sacrificed personal statistics and glory for. Speaking now with a lifetime of basketball in their rear-view mirror, this season still stands out as a magical experience. “It was the best feeling I ever had in basketball,” Gill said, “It will never be duplicated.”

Origins With every player who saw the ﬂoor hailing from Illinois and four regulars born within the Chicago city limits, the 1988-89 represented a remarkable coalescing of local talent, but in a foreshadowing of future struggles for Illinois schools to retain the top high school players in their region, it almost didn’t happen. 22

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Team Co-captain Kenny Battle spent his first two years wreaking havoc on Mid-American Conference competition at Northern Illinois. Illinois was always the Aurora native’s first choice, but he sought to avoid the redshirt he would have gotten had he come straight to Champaign. When it became apparent the collection of talent that was gathering under coach Lou Henson, the decision to transfer became easier. Despite 1988-89 only being his second year playing for the Illini, Battle was elected team captain alongside Hamilton, and didn’t see much remarkable about his path to that title. “It’s hard work. It’s leadership,” Battle said. It was also inexhaustible energy. Battle’s motor was so revered by his teammates and most of all Henson, that he created the “Kenny Battle Award” to be bestowed upon the most hustle-happy player on each year’s team. Gill was a day away from committing to Michigan State. Only a three to four hour drive from his hometown of Matteson, Ill. and presenting less of a logjam of guards and wings, Gill was only stopped when “something told me to go to the U of I.” Part of that was something was definitely Gill’s father, who thought the intense competition to get playing time at Illinois would make his son better. He would weigh in again and encourage his son to stay for his senior year of school in 1989-90, and in turn Gill saw his draft stock skyrocket and was selected fifth overall by the Charlotte Hornets. Liberty’s recruitment was easily the most muddled. Despite being named the No. 1 high school player in the country by Parade Magazine and USA Today, he felt his college decision was taken out of his hands. Liberty claimed legendary King High School coach Sonny Cox made a point of trying to funnel him to Illinois, allegedly for compensation that he never saw any part of, and little consideration was given to his preference for Syracuse, where head coach Jim Boeheim promised to utilize Liberty’s unique blend of size and skill.

Twenty years after the 1989 Flyin’ Illini thrilled Illinois basketball fans en route to the NCAA Final Four, the squad reunited in Champaign on Friday for a different kind of event. The Illini Hoop Legends for Charity Dinner and Auction was part of former Illini and current Utah Jazz guard Deron Williams’ Point of Hope Foundation, and proceeds benefited the men’s basketball program and local charities. Plenty of Illinois basketball icons turned out for the festivities. Illinois was still his second choice, but Liberty’s disappointment, his adjustment to coming off the bench and Henson’s more rigid approach to what responsibilities players with his size should have made his early days in Champaign difficult. But despite coming off as bitter about his experience in previous interviews, Liberty insists he’s grateful for how things worked out and happy that his family had the opportunity to see him play at Illinois. By the end of his senior season, he was asking East St. Louis star LaPhonso Ellis to come to Champaign with him at the state title game, albeit unsuccessfully. “It turned out to be a good decision for me because I got a chance to play for a Final Four team and play with some guys who are truly legends of the game for the university,” Liberty said. “Nick Anderson, Kendall Gill, Kenny Battle. Those guys are Hall of Fame Illini basketball players and I got a chance to play with them.” The special collection of talent was apparent to Stephen Bardo during high school recruiting events. After a Nike showcase camp in New Jersey, Bardo spoke to Anderson, Gill and Liberty about the kind of team they would have if they all went to Illinois. Bardo saw the conversation as a formation of a pact to attend school together. Gill didn’t recall such an agreement when asked and Battle didn’t mention it, but since they all ended up together on a Final Four team anyway, it is only a small glitch in Bardo’s design. When asked if the Flyin’ Illini’s season represented his plan coming to fruition, Bardo said “I would have to agree.”

The Season Confident talk is typical of pre-season interviews of even the most doomed teams; the more stirring realizations of potential greatness take place on the court. The Illini started the year ranked No. 9 in the AP poll and had plenty of reasons to feel good about themselves after an early slate of blowouts, but didn’t have their mettle tested until they were tasked with an 18-point first half deficit on the road against Missouri in the

annual Braggin’ Rights game. Led by co-captain Kenny Battle’s 19 second half points— which included two clutch free throws and a steal in the final minute—the Illini rallied to a three-point victory. “He’s got the right last name,” Missouri coach Norm Stewart said of Battle afterward. The victory kept their win streak alive, but the Illini got more important information about what type of team they were. “We knew that we could pull off any type of game and win,” Gill said. A romp through a winter tournament Hawaii culminating in a victory over No. 17 Georgia Tech put the first big-time credit on their resume. Yet that win barely registers as a unique memory due to the double overtime epic the two teams engaged in at Assembly Hall a month later that vaulted the Illini into No. 1 spot in the rankings for a week. As the Illini dribbled out the last minute of their thrilling comeback victory, it was once again Battle placing the punctuation mark. He received a pass from Larry Smith on the baseline and slammed home a thunderous dunk while getting fouled that sent the whole arena, and the whole team into hysterics. “The ranking just made it real and gave us a stamp as far as being No. 1,” Battle said, “But we were always No. 1 in the hearts of Illini fans.” For a singular image of the team, the dunk against Georgia Tech tells a lot of the tale: above-the-rim, exciting, intense and thrilled to be competing with one another. “You knew it was something special because everyone sacrificed something. Every one of those guys were great scorers in high school,” Battle said, “We all gave up a lot of scoring. We learned to play defense. Once we all learned what each one of us was good at doing, it was a great group to watch.” Battle carried the scoring load along with junior guard Nick Anderson. Despite missing 12 games with a broken REBOUND

foot, Gill provided lock down defense and combined with 6’7” center Lowell Hamilton to give the Illini their other two double-figure scorers, Bardo and Smith provided Coach Henson with two capable ball distributors to rotate between or pair together, and Earvin Small and P.J. Bowman provided defense and three-point shooting off the bench. But all of these players were veterans who had accepted and grown into their roles with time. For an all-world recruit like Liberty, becoming a secondary option was an adjustment, but one he was glad he ended up making. “I was so used to playing all the time, and now I had to take a backseat and watch and learn a lot,” Liberty said. That his 20 minutes per game were spent with far more screen-setting and less ball-handling that he was used to, only made it harder. “It was a time when Coach Henson said ‘I know I’m going to need you, Marcus, so just be ready,’ so I had to be ready, because you never know.” Gill’s injury, suffered in the second game against Georgia Tech, briefly sent the Illini into a tailspin. All four of their regular season losses came during the 12-game span he was absent. That lull was all Bob Knight’s Indiana squad needed to win the Big Ten title outright, despite losing to a Gill-less version of the Illini twice, the second time coming on a dramatic buzzer-beating three-pointer from Anderson off a full-court pass from Bardo that shocked the Bloomington crowd. Gill returned in time to get a couple of games to re-acclimate himself, and the Illini entered the tournament healthy, riding a six-game winning streak and with a No. 1 seed, albeit in a brutal Midwest region. After struggling more than expected in the first two rounds, they defeated Pervis Ellison and Louisville in the Sweet 16 boosted by a surprising 14-point effort from Liberty and 24 from Anderson. Perhaps the signature win of the season came in their Elite Eight triumph over Syracuse. Facing a loaded Orangemen lineup that featured future pros Derrick Coleman, Billy Owens and Sherman Douglas brought out the best in the Illini. Battle and Anderson combined for 52 points in a breathless 89-86 win that appropriately ended with Battle nailing two free throws to seal the university’s first trip to the Final Four in 47 years. As the final buzzer sounded, the players writhed around the floor in ecstasy, deliriously embracing each other even as the court flooded with fans. “I’ve played in the NBA, I’ve played over in Europe and I have never felt that way about a group of guys that from the first player all the way down to the 24

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Nick Anderson

Kenny Battle

twelfth player on the team,” Liberty said, “We all had one common goal, and that was to win.” The Illini fell two wins short of that ultimate goal when they lost 83-81 to a Michigan team on a miracle run in the National Semiﬁnal. As Liberty put it, the undersized Illini were “a rebound away” from playing Seton Hall for the championship. Liberty’s lament is the closest any of the Illini come to expressing regret about a year that saw the team set a then-school record for wins in a season (31), average more points than any Illini team in over 20 years, achieve the No. 1 ranking in the AP poll for the ﬁrst time in 47 years and complete a season that to this day, is the fourth-best in school history by winning percentage. If they ever forgot what they achieved that season, they would swiftly be reminded. “Illinois is a state school,” Bardo said, “Everyone in the state was really proud of what we did and how we represented the state. I have never really been in a situation like that since.”

“I attribute that to my work ethic, being able to stay in shape, being able to stay healthy for a large part of my career,” Gill said, “Those were the things that made me last so long.” Gill averaged over 20 points per game twice in his career and was a double-figure scorer into his mid-30s, but prided himself on doing it all. He placed his faith in the defensive skills that carried him through his early days when the speed of the NBA game had him reeling. “All aspects of my game were fundamentally sound. That I got from four years at U of I, that was what carried me over in the NBA when I first got there,” Gill said. “Once you have the fundamentals of the game, you can play in any system.” Since retiring from the NBA, Gill has transitioned smoothly to the broadcast side, working as a studio analyst for his hometown Comcast SportsNet Chicago for seven seasons in addition to the Big Ten Network and Vs. Network. “It kept me in touch with the game,” said Gill, who will now be working for NBA TV during the upcoming season. While Gill and Anderson enjoyed remarkably lengthy NBA careers, the other three had careers more typical of transient nature of professional athlete careers. A late first-round pick, Battle played in four seasons in the NBA, (including a dunk contest appearance) as well as four seasons in the CBA, a season in Argentina and one final year playing in North Dakota for a International Basketball Association team in 2000. “They paid me the money, so I

After Illinois Five members of the Flyin’ Illini would eventually make the NBA. Anderson hit the ground running in Orlando, averaging double-figures in the first 11 seasons of a 13-year career and starring alongside Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway for an Orlando Magic team that made the 1995 NBA Finals, eliminating the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls in the process. Gill lasted even longer, playing 15 years for seven different teams, and surprising, if no one else, himself with his longevity.

Stephen Bardo

Kendall Gill

Marcus Liberty

went,” Battle said. Now that his career is over, Battle has settled down with his family in Joliet and turned his famously endless pool of energy toward working with children. He runs a co-ed youth basketball camp and coaches an AAU team, and also dedicates his time to the volunteer basketball clinics run by the NBRPA. While many question whether Battle’s ‘tweener status kept him from getting properly utilized in the NBA, he dismisses that line of thinking, insisting that he got his shot and appreciated it. At the least, his introduction to the league was easier than Bardo’s. After being selected in the second round by the Atlanta Hawks, Bardo was cut before the season started and had to work his way back to the league before he even made his debut. “I never questioned it,” Bardo said, “But it was stunning because it was the ﬁrst time someone told me I wasn’t good enough. I had to regroup quickly, but it was the best thing for my career.” Bardo made a single appearance for the San Antonio Spurs the next season, before catching on with the Dallas Mavericks the year after. While he spent the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons in the CBA, he got back to the NBA one more time for a nine-game stint with the Detroit Pistons. “Playing in the NBA was a lifelong dream, and although I didn’t play very long, I realized the dream.” By the time his NBA career was over, Bardo was prepared for the lifestyle that moving from contract-to-contract required.

“I kind of figured out after the third or fourth year,” Bardo said, “I was going to be a hoops gypsy. Have ball, will travel.” During the last season of his professional career, Bardo was at an Illinois basketball game and then-athletic director Ron Guenther approached and offered him a chance to do radio broadcasts for Illinois men’s basketball games. Bardo found the possibility of wide exposure appealing for the speaking career he was developing, and while the speech communications he had taken at Illinois were long behind him, he felt no anxiety about putting himself out in the open. “I was ignorant,” Bardo explained of his fearlessness, “I was just having fun.” Eventually the radio work became TV work, as Bardo worked as a sports reporter for CBS-2 Chicago, called NCAA tournament games for national CBS broadcasts, and became a regular presence on broadcasts of Big Ten games for ESPN. The new season will see him transition to an analyst/announcer role with the Big Ten Network. “Basketball brought me everything,” Bardo said, “It brought me friends, a college education, I met my wife at the University of Illinois. I was there because I was an outstanding basketball player. I was a good student, but that wasn’t what I was being recruited for. Then I get a chance to fulfill a lifelong dream in playing in the NBA and I played in eight different countries overseas. I love the game, and I would play now if my knees and back didn’t hurt.” These days, Marcus Liberty uses his NBA career as part of his cautionary tales to young players. Even though he achieved the rare feat of lasting four

years at the highest level and excelled in a bench role for the Denver Nuggets for a handful of seasons, it’s easy to wonder what could have been if a few things went differently for the King High School star. He left Illinois after his junior year, but only because the death of his grandfather created more immediate need for his family. He slid to the second round despite a dominant 1989-90 season, but felt his work ethic declined removed from an environment full of the mentoring and sacrifice for a common goal that permeated Illinois. “I never really had someone that could actually mentor,” Liberty said, “Someone like a Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, that could grab and put you under their wings and say ‘young fella this is what you’ve got to do.’” Liberty moved on to the CBA for a season after his NBA career ended, but soon opted for the international route, playing on teams in eight different countries before retiring at age 34. While he eventually worked through the culture shock of playing abroad, Liberty regrets the mercenary nature his career took on at the end. In his current work training and speaking to kids, often at NBRPA events, Liberty stresses that while basketball is a business, it’ important not to lose the love of playing. It’s a complex message to deliver between tips about his B.E.E.F. (balance, elbows, eyes, follow-through) instruction method for shooting form and box out drills, but Liberty speaks with an enthusiasm that belies his 44 years of age and claims the kids crane in to listen when he identifies himself as a REBOUND

former Illinois Mr. Basketball or mentions the NBA. “Why not listen to me?” Liberty asked. “Why not listen to the Do’s and Dont’s I can offer?” A shy kid growing up, Liberty credits one of his professors at Illinois pulling him aside and insisting he open up and communicate for his ability to talk about the difficulties he’s faced in his life and use it to guide others. “When I walked away from the game and finally retired, I really missed the University of Illinois and I missed a lot of people that really mentored me and molded me into who I am today,” Liberty said. “A lot of people failed me that came into my life. I would never want to do that to a kid that came into my path.” When he settled in Sarasota, Florida, he quickly gained notice from his neighbor Dick Vitale, who hired Liberty to train his grandchildren after an audition. As of September, Liberty was leaning toward taking a job coaching at a high school in Florida, but made no secrets of his desire to get back into the college game, even at Illinois.

Getting the Team Back Together “I always knew I wanted to write this book,” Bardo said of his account of the 1988-89 season, “I waited for the 25th anniversary.” The timing is right to maximize on fan nostalgia and calls for a reunion, but there’s also no such thing as too soon when it comes to re-living the best season of their lives. “We should have did this a long time ago,” Liberty told Bardo when he ﬁrst approached him. The honeymoon never really died between players and the Illini fanbase. Fans who stopped them in the street to tell them how much they loved their brand of above-the-rim basketball at the time can still pick them out of a crowd now. For any Illinois hoops fanatic, this is the second-best Illini team of the modern era, and it’s worth wondering if the best one (the 2004-05 squad that went 37-2 and lost in the National Championship Game) would have formed in the same way if the Flyin’ Illini had not put the program on the map 16 years prior. “It’s nice to be reminded of how people thought of that team,” Bardo said. Bardo’s work has made him a regular feature on campus since he retired. But Gill also runs an annual golf outing beneﬁtting the Cunningham Children’s Home in Urbana that celebrated its 24th year of existence in July. He also makes a point to come back to the State Farm Center for a few games every season, as does Battle, who has never strayed far from the program. “Illinois is always in my heart,” Battle said, “I always love going back and I always have a thrill going into what’s now the State Farm Center but will always be Assembly Hall.” 26

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A July interview Liberty gave with the Sarasota HeraldTribune quoted him as saying that he had never been invited back, but he was eager to clarify that he was not bitter nor at odds with the university, just that he had not been invited by any specific coaching administration since Henson stepped down in 1996. If anything he wants to be more involved. Echoing the others, Liberty is optimistic about the progress Groce has made but still alarmed by the diffusion of Chicago-area talent to “national” programs and believes that the more recruits that know of the kind of supportive and loving environment that the 1988-89 team enjoyed, the better. Essentially, he’s been waiting for an opportunity like this. Every member of the team except for Nick Anderson (who had a prior commitment) is scheduled to be on campus at the Illini Union Bookstore on Nov. 1 for the celebration of the release of Bardo’s book. Official university plans to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the team beyond the book signing are unscheduled or unannounced at the moment, but would easily be embraced by a group that still cherishes their relationship with the Illinois fanbase a quarter-century after they set the college basketball world ablaze and most of all, still cherishes what they built together. “We are pretty much bonded for life. We built something that was so special that you see it off the court,” said Liberty, whose answer was immediate when asked how he’d react to the team being officially honored by the school. “I would call it a family reunion.”

BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME Golf Classic

Second Annual Jerry Colangelo Basketball Hall of Fame Golf Classic Presented by IOA & NIKE

The Godfather of basketball, Jerry Colangelo always does things in style. He has been instrumental in the game of basketball and sports in general. Jerry has done it once again. Last year, I was honored to be involved with the Inaugural Jerry Colangelo Basketball Hall of Fame Golf Classic and again this year, the second annual Classic that took place September 26-27 at the Wigwam Resort in Arizona. This event brought together some of the biggest names in the game of basketball. Additional All-Star sponsors include Alliance Beverages, Flying Colors Powered by Moss and the Wynn Hotel Las Vegas. Thursday, September 26th boasted two forums. The ﬁrst forum, Success Oﬀ the Court, was a panel of players turned successful business people. They shared stories

about their transition from playing days to business. This forum was led by ESPN’s Michael Wilbon of Pardon the Interruption. Wilbon asked questions about how successes in basketball lead to success oﬀ the court. The forum consisted of Annie Meyers Drysdale, Nancy Lieberman, Wayne Embry, Bob Lanier, Del Harris and Kiki Vandeweghe. All shared interesting journeys in life and provided fantastic insight of their storied lives and the ever moving target known as business. The second forum, Score, was an informative and entertaining panel discussion with some of the greatest scorers of the game. The panel included Meadowlark Lemon, Dale Ellis, Rick Barry, Bob Lanier, Gary Payton, Bernard King and Mitch Richmond. This group of legends spoke about how they sized up their competition and found ways to counter moves that defenders worked tirelessly to take away. I really enjoyed this group of men batting concepts back and forth how they at times felt invincible on the court when “in the zone.” I enjoyed hearing Bernard King dissect the court and explain the spots on the court that he worked hard to get to, in order to get the shot he wanted. I also recollect Rick Barry explaining how to read the defender playing him and

from the left Connie Hawkins, Rick Barry, Meadowlark Lemon, Dale Ellis, Bernard King, Mitch Richmond. REBOUND

With luxurious accommodations, exceptional cuisine, extensive spa and recreational facilities, plus three 18-hole championship golf courses, the Wigwam served as hosts for this unmatched experience of a lifetime. That day was a beautiful day of golfing and fraternizing for all to remember. Behind our foursome was Meadowlark Lemon, a great gentleman of the game, kind enough to share some stories and pose for pictures while we were waiting to tee off. This star-studded event raised over $250,000 for the Hall of Fame. Congratulations Jerry, you scored another slam-dunk for basketball! About Jerry Colangelo: Jerry Colangelo is the Chairman of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Board, as well as the Chairman of USA Basketball’s Board of Directors and architect of the 2008 USA “Redeem Team” Gold Medal winning effort. One of the most innovative and influential owners in NBA history, Jerry Colangelo has spent most of his life involved with the game of basketball. A graduate of the University of Illinois where he earned All-Conference honors as a player, Colangelo began his NBA career in 1966 with the Chicago Bulls’ front office. In 1968, he became the youngest general manager in professional sports with the expansion Phoenix Suns. In only his second season with the new club, Colangelo turned the Suns into a legitimate playoff threat. In 1976, Colangelo received his first Sporting News NBA Executive of the Year award for taking the Suns to the NBA Finals. A respected member of the NBA Board of Governors, Colangelo played an integral role in the formation of the WNBA in 1997. He has also served on the NBA’s the Long Range Planning Committee, the Expansion Committee and the Competition and Rules Committee. Continuing his transformation of downtown Phoenix, Mr. Colangelo was also instrumental in bringing major league baseball to Phoenix in 1998 and served as Chairman and CEO of the 2001 World Champion Arizona Diamondbacks. Mr. Colangelo was also critically involved in bringing NHL Hockey to Phoenix. Center Court at the Basketball Hall of Fame was dedicated as the Jerry Colangelo Court of Dreams. About the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the city where basketball was invented, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame promotes and preserves the game of basketball at every level – professional, collegiate, men and women.

systematically make his fake or move to a scoring spot on the court. What fun! I could listen to those men all day; the most disappointing moment is when the forum came to an end, all too quickly. After the forums, the Golf Classic VIP Reception took place. A chance to mingle with the greats and enjoy horderves, have a drink and bid on the silent auctions. There were great sports memorabilia made available by certified specialist in the field. After the reception, from 6:30-9:00 PM there was a Casino Night Pairings Party. This boasted a live auction and dinner and paired the foursomes with the professional basketball players and offered a chance to get to know the athletes and celebrities in a casual atmosphere. After diner, the party wrapped up with casino games enjoyed by everyone, another chance to show off a different set of skills. Money was raised during the two days for the Hall of Fame to continue to promote the game of basketball. The Hall of Fame is a 501©(3) and offers wonderful insight and recognition deserved by those whom helped shape the game of basketball. Friday, September 27th was the Jerry Colangelo Basketball Hall Of Fame Golf Classic at Red Allen’s Patio where a continental breakfast and registration took place. At 7:30 AM there was a shotgun start and the Golf Classic Luncheon followed. The Golf Classic featured over 50 Basketball Hall of Famers and basketball legends and one was represented with each foursome. The night before the tournament, guests were treated to a special Welcome Reception and Pairings Dinner and a Silent Auction, almost all of those participating were at the event. Some of the guests included George Gervin, Bernard King, Kiki Vandeweghe, Medowlark Lemon, Bernard King, Nancy Lieberman, Dan Majerle, Moses Malone, Gary Payton, Oscar Robertson, Ralph Sampson, Lenny Wilkens, Anne Meyers Drysdale, Mitch Richmond and Rick Barry. The tournament day was highlighted by Championship Play on three incredible courses. We were all up bright and early to golf on one of the three fantastic courses that the Wigwam is famous for. The site of the Golf Classic, The Wigwam, is a historic Arizona landmark in Glendale’s Litchfield Park that exemplifies resort life. Luke Airforce attendees and patrons at the Hall of Fame Auction. 28

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Bob Love - “I Wanted to be a Speaker” When former Bulls star Bob Love was growing up, one of 14 children living in a two-bedroom house in povertygripped and segregated Bastrop, Louisiana, he would retreat by his lonesome to the cotton fields by his home and look out upon the thousands of stalks. Love finds it simpler to say “I couldn’t talk” than detail the severity of the stutter that grasped and ripped at every word that he tried to push through his lips, yet he would still look out upon the stalks and imagine each one as a member of a captivated audience. “I wanted to be a speaker, all of my life, and I couldn’t say one word,” Love said. After being a high school state champion quarterback in Louisiana and a star of the Dick Motta-led Chicago Bulls of the 1970’s, it’s now at age 70 that Love claims to be living his dream as the Bulls’ Director of Community Relations. A seemingly brutal schedule of over 300 speeches per year is a “joyride” for Love, who after waiting 48 years for the gift of speech, is a long ways away from tiring of telling his story. It’s a painful one. Love has become synonymous with his tale of post-retirement struggles that saw him reduced to working as a bus boy at Nordstrom’s cafe and were only abated when his employer offered to pay for speech therapy classes. Dapperly adorned in a striking red blazer and cream-colored slacks in preparation for yet another event at the United Center, the embarrassment Love felt from having to wear an apron dotted with grease stains still flashed across his face while recalling the job. It was just

when Love recalled his instructor Susan Hamilton reminding him to take in air rather than force out his words, he hit his biggest snag in 45 minutes of nearly stutter-free conversation. After three misfires, Love closed his eyes, took a breath and proceeded undaunted, like it never happened. Love’s basketball dreams, born on a hoop made from his grandfather’s coathanger that he patched to the side of a small house that saw 14 children squeezed in, under and between three beds, are sincere. While playing with a ball he made for himself out of his grandfather’s old socks stuffed with grass, Love dreamed about weaving around the court past the greatest players in the game. As much work as it was for Love to carve out a decorated 11-year NBA career, to some degree it was always a childhood fantasy playing out in real life. But athletics also served as a means of social escape. To accommodate Love’s skills on the football field, his high school coach was willing to have his quarterback sing the calls at the line of scrimmage to work past his stutter, with his lineman snapping their fingers for a beat if needed. Oftrepeated taunts of how Love never could land a girlfriend melted away when his teammates saw what the long hours of solitary work honing his jumper had forged. “People would forget all the time that I stuttered really bad, and that was fine with me,” Love said, “That meant all the world to me.” Love rattled off two moments that he felt changed his life, and it is easy to see that they served to embolden him, after a childhood that silenced him into humility. The first came when his high school teacher—Ms. Dubose, as Love easily recalled and spelled the name of—declared him a REBOUND

to children—or in this case, both—Love speaks frequently of dreams. They are essential possessions in his view, a belief ingrained when his grandmother oﬀered it as a coping mechanism to the ceaseless teasing of his childhood. “‘Everybody has a handicap,’” Love said, recalling his grandmother’s words, “‘And everyone has a disability, but what you’ve got to do son, is have a dream.’ Boy, did I ever dream.” That singular vision was not just necessary for dealing with his stutter, but an approach necessary for Love’s entire life. The stiﬂing grip of poverty fueled his early ambitions to excel in sports, knowing that alternative means of paying for a vital education were scant. While a football scholarship brough him to college, segregation pushed him from the sport. A legion of elite black talent largely ignored by the top schools formed a bottleneck at the quarterback position at Southern University. Not seeing an opening and not exactly a glutton for the physical punishment of foot-

“superstar” to his classmates, again marveling at his prowess on the court. Academic forums being used to exalt athletic achievements can be a cringeworthy practice these days, but perhaps Ms. DuBose knew whose self-esteem she was building. The second moment came after Love’s entire school took the Air Force Academy entrance exam. In a crowded gymnasium, his whole class of approximately 5,000 students assembled as their principle announced that just three students had passed the grueling test: the valedictorian, the salutatorian, and, shocking no one more than himself, Robert Earl Love. “From that day on, I never doubted myself,” Love said. Even as Love forged his identity as a silent Bulls mainstay, watching quietly as reporters grabbed quotes from, wrote glowing features on and heaped accolades on his teammates, even as he needed others to speak for him in the huddle during timeouts, Love never abandoned his dream of being a speaker. He watched footage of President Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. and marveled at the way they commanded audiences. Love saw the power they held to have crowds of thousands hanging silently on their every word, just as the cotton stalks sat for him decades earlier, and coveted it. “One day that’s going to be me,” Love reasoned to himself, “People are going to want to hear what I have to say.” Like most men who reach the pinnacle of their profession, or who make a living that includes regularly speaking 30 REBOUND

ball in the first place, Love decided to see what openings there were on the basketball team. When focusing full-time on basketball brought Love success, he still had to sweat out being cut by the team that drafted him, the Cincinnati Royals, and spending a year in the Eastern Basketball League. Love’s second attempt to make the Royals was successful, but he was left available for the Milwaukee Bucks expansion draft after two seasons, only for the Bucks to trade him to the Bulls just 14 games into his first year in Milwaukee. After averaging nine minutes per game for the Bulls after the trade, he got his first crack a full-time starting role in the 1969-70 season. He was 27 years-old. And that Love could find himself at a loss for how to find work with no help in sight, after six-straight seasons averaging over 20 points per game, three All-Star team selections and making the All-NBA second team twice reminds that NBA careers don’t end the way they used to anymore. Injuries ended his career, swiftly and brutally. For his ailing knees and back, Love recalled two surgeries and up to 40 cortisone injections, the last of which ended in the syringe bursting, dotting the exam room with his blood and leaving him walking with a cane and crutch for months afterward. “They told me ‘Put some ice on it,’” Love recalled of his treatment instructions afterward, “‘Put some ice on it and take aspirin.’ Back in the day, that’s how they did us. They can’t do that now.” When asked whether he ever considered making a malpractice claim, Love said the idea never occurred to

him. He set upon his self-directed rehab program of trudging up a hill in a park near his Seattle home, and began his fruitless job search when he was able again. The job that he eventually landed at the cafe of a Seattle Nordstrom represented Love at possibly his most publicly embarrassed, yet he described in dedicated detail his method for attending to spills and washing dishes. When his employer offered to pay for speech classes, it offered him an opportunity to realize his childhood dreams as a speaker, but also gave him something on which to direct his dogged focus on. “I was motivated. I wanted to talk. I looked in the mirror every morning and practiced, practiced, practiced,” Love said, talking as if he was pulling lines from one of his speeches. Love’s newfound gift of gab was enough to draw local newspaper attention, and with the Bulls at the beginning of their title run in 1992 and inundated with requests for community engagement events like never before, Executive VP of Business Operations Steve Schanwald and Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf thought it would be worth seeing what Love could do. With the multitude of motivational speakers making the rounds, it can take some doing to even begin to craft a speech that aims to rise above the typical formulaic pap. But Love never worried about how he would be received or worried for a moment about what he would say. He had his story. “Anyone can say what they would do. What people want to know is ‘what did you do when trouble came to your door?’” Love said. Despite the humbling content of his tale, the idea of baring his soul to a large audience excited Love. He recalled eagerly the first banquet where the Bulls had him speak. Despite the specter of his only recently-conquered stutter lingering over his shoulder and even a possible job on the line, there was only giddiness in Love’s voice as he talked about his first moment at the podium, staring out a brimming sea of “heads and eyeballs,” sitting silently, waiting on him. “I got out there and looked out there and I had flashbacks of a little boy growing up in Louisiana, stuttering,” Love said. “I wasn’t scared. Got up there and I didn’t stutter. I was so excited, I didn’t know what to do. When I got through, everyone was crying, with hankies. It was the greatest feeling in the world.” “I cried,” Love added, with just a hint of moisture building in his eyes. “I still do, thinking about it.” It’s been over 20 years now of the Bulls sending Love out to speak to children, businesses, community groups, or anyone who requests his presence. He sprinkles in phrases about education trumping all, he talks about “not playing the victim in life”, but it’s his story, or just Love himself, that makes it work. Small classrooms and audiences of 15,000, even when he shared panels with the likes of Colin Powell, Joe Theisman and Terry Bradshaw, lean in to hear the long list of things that didn’t break Bob Love. The gasps, the sniffling, the wiping of tears and thunderous applause are all earmarks of this new strength that his voice has given him, and it still shakes him to think about it. “Greatest feeling in the world.” He repeated it a lot. He meant it. REBOUND

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SUCCESS Insider

By Susan Inwood

Five Investing Mistakes You Don’t Have to Make It’s easy to have confidence in investments made during bull markets: share prices climb and any losses from poor decisions are usually recovered fast. But times of increasing market volatility tend to magnify mistakes, and many investors may lose confidence in their decision making. Let’s take a quick look at some of these common — but generally avoidable — mistakes. 1. Timing the Market During a downturn in the market, investors who regularly contributed to their portfolios when the market was rising often decide to stop investing until conditions improve. This can prove to be a costly mistake. Not only is it impossible to time the ups and downs of the market with consistent success — by sitting on the sidelines during a down market, you could miss out on an opportunity to buy stocks and other investments at lower prices. In good times and bad, long-term investors should carefully consider the merits of dollar-cost averaging. By continuing to make investments of the same dollar value at regular intervals, investors can buy more shares when prices are low, fewer when prices are high. A periodic investment plan such as dollar-cost averaging does not assure a profit or protect against a loss in declining markets. Also, since such a strategy involves continuous investment, investors should consider their ability to continue purchases through periods of low price levels. It is also important to continue to make contributions to your 401(k) plan or similar employee-sponsored retirement plan. These contributions often “earn” matching funding from your employer — providing additional earnings potential. 2. Skipping the Research Determining whether an investment is appropriate for your portfolio requires research. There are more companies and investment products to invest in today than ever before, and you need to gather information before you can determine which investments might have potential for growth. Before making an investment decision, it’s helpful to evaluate it in the context of comparable opportunities. At a minimum, you should find two articles (from different authors) about the company or investment product and review the company’s website. Both the investor relations section and news announcements found on the website

can provide useful information. You should also review financial statements and carefully investigate anything that looks vague or unusual. Not only can doing your homework help you to make informed investment decisions, it can also help you to feel comfortable with the holding in spite of temporary ups and downs. 3. Chasing Past Performance Yesterday’s hot stock may have already topped out. Today’s innovative start-up may not have the wherewithal to stay in business. So it’s important to base investment decisions on more than past performance and a few headlines. You should invest with the future in mind. If there is strong growth potential, and the fundamental likelihood of the company’s success looks good to you, then it may make sense to invest even after a successful run. Keep in mind, however, that past performance is no guarantee of future results. 4. Trading Too Often Frequent trading often reduces the total return of your portfolio. In addition to the trading fees and taxes that it may incur, frequent trading does not reflect a long-term outlook and thoughtful investment strategies — neither timing the market nor running from losses enhances your portfolio’s performance. 5. Selling Low, Or Not At All Before selling a stock or investment product that has tumbled, it’s important to do some additional research to understand why it fell. This research will help you anticipate the holding’s potential for recovery. If the setback appears to result from a temporary problem that can be easily overcome, you may even want to consider buying more while the price is low. Conversely, it’s also important to know when to take a loss. It hurts to lose money, but a little pain now may pay off in the long run. If your company or investment relies on an industry that is likely to remain weak for several years, consider selling to avoid any additional losses. Learning from your own past mistakes, as well as from those made by others, is an important step toward becoming a better investor. To find out more about avoiding these and other mistakes often made by investors, contact your Financial Advisor.

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SUCCESS Insider

By Norm Greenidge

Wealth Management for Pro Athletes: What’s Your Game Plan? We’ve all heard the stories. An NBA All-Star earns multi-millions in salary and bonuses during his seven-year playing career. After years of living the high life and a bunch of unwise financial decisions, he retires. Two years later, he’s broke. Sadly, tales of athletes whose financial lives are in chaos are hardly uncommon. In fact, more than 60 percent of NBA players will be broke five years after retiring, 78 percent of NFL players after two-to-four years. How do you beat odds like that? The key is to manage your finances while you are playing and create a strategy for the future when you are no longer competing. In short, long-term financial well-being, like success in sports, requires a smart game plan.

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Is there a second career in your future?

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Do you have an updated, tax-advantaged estate plan in place?

Getting the Point After: One Player’s Experience After signing a large free-agent contract with his new team, Adam realized he had a limited window of opportunity to preserve and grow his lucrative earnings. He owned multiple homes, had little investment experience and wanted to be certain of a continued income stream once his playing career ended. His estate plan was simple – he had only a will with no trusts or powers of attorney. Adam’s goal was to have enough money saved from this contract to sustain a comfortable lifestyle once his career ended.

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His Northern Trust advisor helped him establish multiple accounts: one designated for in-season expenses, one for oﬀ-season expenses and another for retirement savings. Prior to determining the amount necessary to fund each account, the advisor ran a detailed cash ﬂow analysis.

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Adam’s signing bonus was invested in a portfolio focused on his long-term goal of relying upon the income generation after the deferred payments ceased. His Northern Trust advisor and his attorney worked together to create a tax-advantaged estate plan.

What family obligations extend beyond your playing years?

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Are there charities or causes you would like to support? The first step is to clarify your financial priorities for what you want to accomplish for you and your family. To do that successfully, you need a financial advisor who understands the unique needs of professional athletes and has the knowledge and experience to help you achieve your life goals.

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Adam had to relocate to another city for his new team. His Northern Trust advisor introduced him to a real estate agent accustomed to working with professional athletes, helped Adam secure financing for the new home, and made sure his new assets were properly titled. Through thoughtful planning and professional investment advice, Adam felt confident that his financial needs would be well met, not just for the length of his playing career but throughout his life. It gave him the peace of mind he needed to focus on what matters most – playing his best.

This article was contributed by Norm Greenidge, Managing Director, Professional Athlete Group, at Northern Trust, one of the world’s premier wealth management ﬁrms. You can contact him at 310-443-5122 or ng6@ntrs.com. IRS CIRCULAR 230 NOTICE: To the extent that this communication or any attachment concerns tax matters, it is not intended to be used, and cannot be used by a taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding any penalties that may be imposed by law. For more information about this notice, see http://www.northerntrust.com/circular230. LEGAL, INVESTMENT AND TAX NOTICE: This information is not intended to be and should not be treated as legal advice, investment advice or tax advice. Readers, including professionals, should under no circumstances rely upon this information as a substitute for their own research or for obtaining speciﬁc legal or tax advice from their own counsel.

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WEALTH I By Andre Mirkine, CFP

WEALTH Monitoring Investments

By Andre Mirkine, CFP

NoVacation vacationfrom fromMonitoring monitoring Investments investments No

ummer is always a good time to step back from

Summer is always a good time to step back from the daily grind and review your finances. daily grind and the review your finances. Whether you are an you are anto active retired player, active or retiredWhether player, take time pay or attention to your investments. Don’t fromtomonitoring your intaketake timeatovacation pay attention your investments. vestments. Don’t take a vacation from monitoring Review your statements: Bank, brokerage firm, money your investments. manager, annuities, insurance Bank, policies, 401-Kfirm, plans, IRAs. Review your statements: brokerage money Review these statements on a regular basis. All investment manager, annuities, insurance policies, 401-K plans, IRAs. portfolios need some occasional “housekeeping.” Reviewing basis. All investment statements on a regular themReview gives these you an idea of how the investments performed and portfolios that activity youoccasional accounts“housekeeping.” is consistent with your fineedinsome Reviewing nancial themgoals givesand youobjectives. an idea of how the investments performed Givethat your budget an annual Take thisyour time and activity in you accountscheck-up: is consistent with to think about your financial goals andspending objectives. and savings habits. Establish a budget for the coming year with a goal of spending less Give your budget an annual check-up: Take this time to than you earn. think about your spending and savings habits. Establish a Who are your beneficiaries? Were there any changes budget for situation the cominginyear goal ofDid spending than in your family the with pastayear? you getless married you earn. or had any children? Insurance policies, annuior divorced, ties, IRA’s, wills all haveWere beneficiaries. Changes Who are and yourtrusts beneficiaries? there any changes in in youryour family situation may mean you want to make amendfamily situation in the past year? Did you get married or ments or additions to the beneficiaries named on these divorced, or had any children? Insurance policies, annuities, items. IRA’s, wills and trusts all have beneficiaries. Changes in your family situation may mean you want to make amendments or additions to the beneficiaries named on these items.

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Review your tax returns: Many things can affect your tax Review your Many can you affect situation. Talk to tax yourreturns: tax advisor to things make sure areyour tax situation. Talk to your tax advisor to make sure you are properly keeping allall potential deductions. properly keepingtrack trackofof potential deductions. What is your credit score? Find out what your credit score What is your credit score? Find out what your credit is. A low score makes more it expensive and/or more score is. Acredit low credit score itmakes more expensive and/or difficult to get to credit buy atohome, or lease carlease or a more difficult get to credit buy abuy home, buyaor car get It a job. toissues fix the issues lead to get or a job. may Itbemay easybe to easy fix the that lead that to a low acredit low credit score. score. Reviewyour yourinsurance insurance policies: jewelry, Review policies: DidDid youyou buybuy jewelry, art, car,aaboat boatoror anything significant value? art, antiques, antiques, aacar, anything of of significant value? Make sure that you have adequate insurance coverage for Make sureof that you acquisitions have adequateand insurance coverage for the the value those to cover any unforeseen valueand of those acquisitions and to cover any unforeseen risks risks liabilities. and The liabilities. off season is the perfect time to call on your “finanofffor season is the perfect time call on yourWhether “financial the cial The team” a review of how youtoare doing. point of your “team” is adoing. financial planner, financial team” guard for a review of how you are Whether the point advisor, accountant, attorney, insurance professional, agent guard of your “team” is a financial planner, financial advisor, or other trusted advisor, they can help you review account accountant, and attorney, insurance to professional, or other statements performance make sureagent you are on track trusted they can help you review to reachadvisor, your long-term financial goals.account statements and performance to make sure you are on track to reach your Andre Mirkine, CFP — financial long-term financial goals. advisor and associate vice president of investments with Wells Fargo Advisors. Andre.mirkine@wellsfargoadvisors.com

Andre Mirkine, CFP — financial advisor and associate vice president of investments with Wells Fargo Advisors. Andre.mirkine@wellsfargoadvisors.com

CAREER Transition

What’s Your Game Plan? Everyone knows that professional athletes are some of the most talented, competitive people on the court. But, it’s often overlooked that many of the same high-achievers from professional sports go on to find success in many business, education, and various professional settings. Success off the court is a result of asking the right questions, finding answers and strategically planning the next play. The reality is that a player’s career is often much shorter than they expect and, after their “playing career” ends a plan must be established. Former athletes need to have a credible picture of the future; understanding their strengths and motivational needs and how they can bring value to an organization As you enter a new marketplace and new reality think about the following: Where is the Intersection of Talent and Passion?

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Creating a well-deﬁned path happens through career assessment, talking to mentors and/ or going back to school. Through this process athletes can begin to discover where their talent and passion intersect.

Having Sound Fundamentals

�

It’s important to get help from experts for resume preparation, career coaching and job placement in developing your successful career transition strategy.

It’s a Contact Sport!

�

Stay in contact with your existing network (teammates, coaches, etc.) and build new relationships from alumni/letterwinner groups.

Use Adversity to Accelerate Growth

�

Utilize the leadership and teamwork skills you developed from playing in your competitive sport and translate those skills into the workplace.

One of the most important questions to ask is how to deﬁne success? Traditionally success is seen as:

� � �

picking yourself up just one more time the continued expansion of happiness the setting and achieving of worthy goals I like Thoreau’s deﬁnition of success

Thoreau defines success as advancing confidently in the direction of your own dream, in order to live a life that only you can imagine. It’s time that you define the dream and imagine what is possible for you! Jim Arnold is a Former NFL Player and current VP of Business Development at Gone Pro. Gone Pro provides career management and job placement services to former collegiate and professional athletes, who have Gone Pro In Something Else®. Send comments or questions to Jim at j.arnold@gonepro.com.

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SUCCESS Insider

By Gary Langendoen

Sports Lessons Translate to Business Lessons In 1960 I was a Claremont, California high school sophomore trying out for the varsity basketball team. At 6-foot-2 with an athletic build, my chances appeared to be a slam dunk. Over several weeks of conditioning we were now down to a select group for the final day. But our pre-celebratory cheers stopped as we watched the football players effortlessly run through drills. They had been recruited to tryout alongside us, causing the bench to thin. As the last name was called, reality made its way like aching muscles needing to be iced, and with a sigh of acceptance, 15 of us gathered our belongings and headed home. As the sting of being cut began to wear off, questions lingered. As with most athletes, there came that moment of discovery – while relatively good at all sports, I was not great in one. What began as a process of reevaluating my body type, natural ability, and willingness to work hard ultimately proved to be my path to a successful life’s journey. Before my senior year, our family relocated to Los Altos in northern California. Since age thirteen swimming had come naturally but the swim team at this new school had unbelievable record times. When I sought out a top notch coach so I could make the team, he said “If you do everything I tell you to do, you’ll go a 55second 100-yard butterfly by the end of swim season.” I made up my mind to commit 100 percent and try.

As a result, I moved to 20th in the nation, making the high school All-American Swimming Team. A year after high school I was ranked among the top 10 in the world, setting American records in three butterfly events and a freestyle relay, and having times on par with 5th place in the Olympics. By the summer, I made the U.S. Olympic team as an alternate for the 1964 Olympics held in Tokyo. Sports set the foundation for a great work ethic and time management skills, along with a full ride athletic scholarship to The University of Texas at Austin where I earned the All-American designation in five events, set two conference records and received the Most Valuable Athlete Award. Great coaching, team work, perseverance, self-confidence, and a belief in something greater; this combination helped me transcend from a student-athlete to a successful thirty-year career in commercial real estate. After earning an MBA at Pepperdine University I bought and managed $3 billion of commercial real estate nationwide. Continuing with the spirit of athletics, today I’m running a diverse team at Madison Realty Companies in Pasadena with talent averaging 25-years each in the real estate industry; all of whom are pushing for their own gold in their personal lives. I never imagined that decades later sports would impact my life and those around me for the better.

Gary Langendoen lives in Pasadena, California where he continues to compete in masters swimming. He has four sons and a daughter, of which two of his sons played college water polo. Mr. Langendoen is the Managing Partner of Madison Realty Companies, best known for increasing value of real estate syndications for its investors. For more information, please call 626.796.8700.

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Sports Media Marketing LLC Your transition resource 602-561-5574

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CENTER Court

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FRANCHISING Opportunity

A Stable Investment in the Hospitality Industry Did you ever imagine becoming part of the thriving hospitality industry? Did you ever think about owning a luxury resort and then dismiss the idea because you didn’t know where to start? Wonder no more. Chandler Hotel Group (CHG) offers its investors the best in a turnkey, full-service investment in the hospitality industry. Whether it be for the purchase or sale of a hotel property, third-party management of it, or its design and renovation, CHG handles it all. CEO and President Jared Chandler says that “Dependability, responsiveness and attention to detail at every step has been critical to our success, and we realize we should make it a practice to engage the best in everything we do to ensure ongoing, unquestionable expertise and results for our clients.” And reading the client testimonials on the company website supports the fact that the company follows its own policies. While CHG is a fully-tiered company that offers hotel brokerage, management, interior design and renovation services, it is always the people in any organization who make the difference. Made up of seasoned experts whose professional lives have been spent in the management, accounting, valuation and repositioning of hospitality property, they form a results-oriented team with deep expertise in every area of the hospitality investment industry. The team operates based on the unwavering principles upon which the company was founded — that every individual client is treated with care, concern and respect. The CHG team’s commitment is that every client receives the best of their value-added expertise. They figure that if they don’t take care of a client, someone else will, so they do whatever it takes to serve a client well, no matter

the effort required. At the most basic level, they apply their expertise, build a relationship with the client and add value to their client’s investment. The strength of that commitment is shown in the following accomplishments: • they have successfully closed over 180 lodging transactions in excess of $2 billion in gross sales • the management services division has successfully managed four- and five-diamond resorts, full-service conference hotels, boutique hotels and portfolios of limited service properties • they are affiliated with all the major brands in the industry today. But a company is only as strong as its leader and his or her vision. It’s clear that Jared Chandler is a true entrepreneur — someone who not only has a compelling vision but also has the ability to execute that vision. Chandler previously worked in the business of taxdeferred1031 investments and realized there was an opportunity for him to create a specialized and stable investment form for others in the hospitality industry. He paid attention to the people who were successful 1031 investors, watching how they invested and managed their money and then created his business based on those sound and proven practices. Chandler prefers his firm to be small and very handson to be able to take advantage of strategic opportunities as they arise and to have a say in how a project goes forward. He equates what the company does to a game of chess since no two transactions or properties they broker, manage or renovate are ever the same. For a “small” firm, however, they are in the Top 100 of 3rd Party Management Companies; CHG manages multiple hotels and resorts in several states including Arizona, California, Utah, Colorado, Arkansas, and Missouri, among others. Their Construction Division earned a Renovation of the Year award. And while they work with all the major players in the industry, they prefer Marriott or Hilton properties since they have proved to be the most attractive brands when it comes time to sell. On a personal level, Chandler says that family is always first but he also loves to help others in need, especially children. And he prefers to donate to charities on a local level, again giving smaller organizations the opportunity to have a say in where and how they use what they have been given.

“... we realize we should make it a practice to engage the best in everything we do to ensure ongoing, unquestionable expertise and results for our clients.”

To learn more about the Scottsdale, Arizona based CHG, visit www.chandlerhotelgroup.com

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INVEST IN THE

Thriving Hospitality Industry FOR PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES looking for a stable investment in the thriving hospitality industry, Chandler Hotel Group (CHG) is your answer. CHG offers its investors the best in a turnkey, full-service investment in the hospitality industry. Whether it be for the purchase or sale of a hotel property, third-party management of it, or its design and renovation, CHG handles it all. Our results-oriented team of seasoned professional experts in management, accounting, valuation, and repositioning of hospitality property operate on our unwavering principle that every individual is treated with care, concern and respect. Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, we also have regional offices in California, Texas, Utah and Illinois. Here are some of the CHG team’s accomplishments: • they have successfully closed over 180 lodging transactions in excess of $2 billion in gross sales • the management services division has successfully managed four- and five-diamond resorts, full-service conference hotels, boutique hotels and portfolios of limited service properties • they are affiliated with all the major brands in the industry today.

WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN OUR TEAM! Call us directly at 866-816-3390 or visit our website at www.chandlerhotelgroup.com and contact us there.

Hospitality Investment Solutions REBOUND

Pam Price

Certified Franchise Executive Pam is a Registered Investment Advisor with the Principal Financial Group in Sarasota, Florida, in addition to being the owner of ProPel Franchising, LLC. Pam has more than 20 years of Franchise and Investment experience and has worked with Professional Athletes and Entertainers for the past ten years. Pam is on the Executive Advisory Board for the National Basketball Retired Players Association Houston Chapter and was previously a member of the International Franchise Association Minority and Diversity Board until 2011. She has held numerous executive positions with both national and internationally recognized brands.

What We Do  Strategic and Master Site Planning  Franchise Advisory Services  Franchise Sourcing  Growth Strategies and Implementation  Contract Negotiations  Finance Sourcing  Operational Services and Staffing  Unit Economic Analysis and Tracking  Marketing and Media Sourcing  Real Estate and Site Selection

404.909.9445

Pprice@propelfranchising.com

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By Pam Price, CFE

FRANCHISING Part 1

How To Make The Game Winning Shot In Franchising (Part 1)

The ﬁnal minute in a basketball game can be the most exhilarating or the most excruciating and most deﬁnitely the longest minute of your life whether you are a player or a fan. Inevitably it often ends with the buzzer shot or back-to-back three-pointers. Although these shots are great crowd pleasers, most games are won and lost by players executing the fundamentals and plays they have learned from their coach and practiced time and time again. Owning and operating a franchise business can be both lucrative and rewarding, if, like in basketball, the fundamentals are followed and you have a good coach with a proven playbook. Successful executives, entrepreneurs, athletes and entertainers often desire to diversify their holdings and establish an on-going income stream for now and the future. Likewise, entrepreneurs wish to leverage Brand value by franchising their successful concepts as a means of channeling their growth.

Source: IHS Global Insight Third Quarter Franchise Forecast for 2013 According to the International Franchise Association (IFA) study for the 2013 Franchise Business Economic Outlook, there were over 746,000 franchise establishments in the United States in 2012, accounting for 8.1 million jobs. With the vast number of franchise concepts currently in existence, the size of the individual businesses varies greatly. A given franchise system can be comprised of a single franchise unit or it can consist of thousands, with Quick Service Restaurants representing the top industry with 37%, Table / Full Service Restaurants following with 13% and Business Services a close third at 11%. Franchising is intended to provide a repeatable, consistent model for the growth and operation of a business, while leveraging the franchisee’s capital to fund expansion. As a business concern, the concept of franchising has proven its merit as a viable way to own a successful business. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), roughly 30% of non-franchise businesses fail within the ﬁrst year, but that number falls to 5% when discussing franchises. So, what are some of the advantages and disadvantages to becoming a franchisee? To the Advantage, you have an established product or service, you receive technical and managerial assistance, quality control standards are in place, you have brand awareness and marketing which usually equates to accelerated growth of your business.

Some of the Disadvantages are that you have restrictions on how you can operate your business, the performance of other franchisees or the franchisor can affect your business, the contract can be terminated and monthly or quarterly royalty and advertising fees are taken from gross sales. Before entering into any franchise agreement, it is important to choose the brand that’s right for you. You could choose a brand because of the region you live or play in, you could choose a brand which has a cause or purpose that you are passionate about, maybe you know other franchisees or friends that have been successful with franchising that brand or maybe it is purely based on unit economics. Whatever the reason, choose the brand that you feel you could dedicate your time, resources and passion to. Whether you are a passive investor with an operating partner or you plan to be actively involved in the day-to-day operations, know your brand! An important step in making an informed decision about purchasing a franchise is to know the responsibilities the franchisor is legally obligated to fulfill. And while buying a franchise means obtaining a complete system of doing business, there is no guarantee for success. According to Steve Strauss, attorney and author of the “The Small Business Bible”, the top five reasons that franchisees fail is bad systems, bad locations, inadequate advertising and marketing, too much competition and inadequate start-up capital. Learn as much as you can about the franchise and the franchisor’s obligations, systems and support before entering a purchase agreement, or even before meeting with the franchisor or their representative to discuss the possibility of purchasing a franchise. It is also wise to work with a proven real estate professional, who knows their specific market, to find the right locations taking into account trade areas, traffic patterns, household counts within a given radius and competitive data. Fourteen states have franchise disclosures or registration laws that require the franchisor to prepare documents for submission to state authorities. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires in all states that a disclosure document, as well as financial statements, be given to franchisees before purchasing the franchise. This document is called the FDD or Federal Disclosure Document. Legally, it must be furnished to a prospective franchisee upon first meeting or within either two weeks or 10 business days, prior to the signing of any documents, depending on the state. Make sure you or your council understand what’s contained in the FDD, which includes a non-specific copy of the Franchise Agreement, as that will become your binding contract with the franchisor. So, now that we’ve chosen the team that we think can take us to the Playoffs, we’ve read the playbook and feel confident about the potential of our team and it’s leadership and we’ve signed our contract, all that’s left to do is to listen to the coach, follow the play book and stay dedicated and focused on the end result, which for a franchisee, is growing a successful business and making money! In the next edition, we’ll take your through the steps from the signing of the Franchise Agreement to the opening of your first location! REBOUND

TEAM OWNER HAS A NICE RING TO IT. ROLL FORWARD WITH ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL FRANCHISES - AUNTIE ANNE’S®

JOIN THE WORLD’S LARGEST HAND-ROLLED SOFT PRETZEL FRANCHISE

Learn more about investment opportunities with Auntie Anne’s® auntieannesfranchising.com 1-877-PRTZ-LUV (778-9588), option 3. FACEBOOK.COM/AUNTIEANNESPRETZELS

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This information is not intended as an offer to sell. We will not offer you a franchise until we have complied with disclosure requirements in your jurisdiction. IN MINNESOTA: Minnesota Registration Number F-5127. Auntie Anne’s, Inc. 48-50 W. Chestnut St, Suite 200, Lancaster, PA 17603. © 2013 Auntie Anne’s, Inc. All rights reserved. 50 REBOUND

Success is Sweet: Develop With Dunkin’ Brands

Two Brands With Strong Heritage

Built on more than 50 years of innovation and fun, Dunkin’ Brands leads and builds great brands at the forefront of the Quick Quality segment of the food and beverage industry. With almost 120 years of combined franchising experience and more than 17,400 points of distribution in nearly 60 countries worldwide, Dunkin’ Brands is home to two of the world’s most recognized and loved brands: • Dunkin’ Donuts, America’s favorite all-day everyday stop for coffee and baked goods that has earned the No.1 ranking for customer loyalty by Brand Keys for seven years running. • Baskin-Robbins is the world’s largest chain of ice cream shops and the No. 1 global premium ice cream brand. Under the Dunkin’ Brands umbrella, both brands share the same vision of conveniently delivering high-quality food and beverages in a welcoming environment, quickly, and at affordable prices. Together we connect powerful brands to growing businesses, delivering not only great food and beverages, but also a great experience, and the kind of hospitality that has our customers coming back for more. “Baskin-Robbins has been building a very solid foundation over the last several years with new product innovation and a strategic vision for the future,” said Bill Mitchell, president of Baskin-Robbins, U.S. and Canada. “With our updated shop design recently introduced and new in-depth development incentives, we believe there’s never been a better time to become a Baskin-Robbins franchisee.” “Our secret to success is our passionate franchisees who provide a high-level of customer service to our guests every day. We continue to look for qualified operators to grow with us as the company continues to steadily expand westward,” added Grant Benson, CFE, vice president of franchising and business development, Dunkin’ Brands. If you share our passion, meet our qualifications and have the ability to deliver a high-level of customer service within your community while maintaining a dedication to our core company values, it’s time to grow with us! • • • •

Powerful brand recognition Strong brand heritage and proven leadership Expansive development opportunities Financial incentives available in select markets

Visit http://www.dunkinbrands.com/franchise/ to learn more!

GROWING EAST TO WEST FRANCHISE WITH US DUNKIN’�DONUTS�RANKED��IN�COFFEE�CATEGORY

Special franchise Development Incentives AVailable

BASKIN-ROBBINS�RANKED��ICE�CREAM�&�FROZEN�TREATS�FRANCHISE

For more information contact US AT WWW.DUNKINFRANCHISING.COM ©2013 DD BR IP Holder LLC. All rights reserved. Source: BR 2011 Entrepreneur Magazine Source: DD 2013 Entrepreneur Magazine Source: Nation’s Restaurant News 2013

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EAST COAST WINGS & GRILL —

A Solution for Athletes Focused on Return On Investment. AS A SMALL FORWARD FOR THE ORLANDO MAGIC,Quentin Richardson is best known for dribbling, passing and shooting. But the former first round draft pick also has a keen interest in business development, and recently became a multi-unit franchisee for East Coast Wings & Grill, a North Carolina-based concept known for its 75 flavors of award-winning buffalo-style wings. Together with JacksonBrown Hospitality Group, a Chicago-based company that recently helped develop and operate such properties as Michael Jordan’s Steak House, Richardson has committed to opening 10 East Coast Wings & Grill restaurants in Orlando over the next seven years. The first restaurant is expected to open early in 2013. “In professional sports, you always have a playbook or plan that needs to be executed to perfection. East Coast Wings & Grill provides that plan and the structure is already in place in terms of marketing and operations,” Richardson said. “We had our eyes on a couple of different concepts in the chicken wing segment, but simply could not look past East Coast Wings & Grill,” said Keith Jackson, Principal of JacksonBrown Hospitality Group. “It was nearly impossible not to be impressed with the incredible amount of leadership and industry experts they have assembled, as well as the environment they’ve created that the whole family can enjoy. We are excited to be part of the team.” “As many athletes move toward retirement, they have a great story to tell and great history, but they have a gap in their resume. A lot of them wonder what their second career is going to be,” said Sam Ballas, CEO of East Coast Wings & Grill. “Franchising is becoming a more popular way for sports stars to transition into life after their careers’ end, and we are excited that Quentin has chosen to make that transition with us.” January 2013 marks the 36th quarter of positive same-store sales for the brand. “The same store sales growth is clear validation that East Coast Wings & Grill has the best business model in the casual dining buffalo wing space.” said Ballas. East Coast Wings & Grill plans to open 15-20 restaurants annually for the next five years, dotting the country with outlets offering its trademark buffalo wings. And while its 75 flavors of buffalo style wings, all available in any of nine heat indexes remain a staple of the concept, East Coast Wings & Grill’s six-page menu also includes such casual dining fare as entrée salads, ribs, fajitas, burgers and sandwiches. The brand will expand operations in 2013 to South Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Florida, Kentucky, Alabama and Tennessee, with Indiana and Virginia soon to follow.

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Bruce Weinstein

480-621-3646

www.premierswplanning.com 56

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bruce@psigllc.com

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NBRPA Chapter

Chicago The National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA) Chicago Chapter held its annual celebrity gala and golf weekend September 29-30. The event was held just outside Chicago, Illinois at Oak Brook Hills Marriott Resort in Oak Brook, Illinois. NBC 5 Chicago’s Art Norman was the emcee for the Sunday night gala. Guests were treated to gourmet fare, signature cocktails, as well as decadent desserts. Luxury vacations, sports memorabilia, and other oncein-a- lifetime sports packages were auctioned oﬀ before the audience was treated to the soulful sounds of violinist Lee England, Jr. “This is one of many vital partnerships that is extremely important to make life changing impact in our communities. The congruency of the NBRPA/APCC missions makes it even more impactful and powerful.” Harold Rice Board Member. Former basketball greats Bill Cartwright, Cliﬀ Levingtson, Artis Gilmore, Cazzie Russell, C.J Kupec, Chet Walker, Casey Shaw, Acie Earl, Sam Lacey, and Roger Brown were among the many celebrities who participated in the golf outing the next day. Students from Daniel Webster Elementary School from Chicago’s

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Lawndale community were treated to some introductory golf lessons, but not before receiving words of wisdom from several special guests. The students, ages 913, were given life lessons on sportsmanship, business leadership, social media, and other life skills they can use as they continue their education. Emmette Bryant, Vice President; “The caliber of sponsors, guests, and celebrity athletes who attended the NBRPA Chicago Chapter Gala/Golf event, highlighted our intent to produce quality special events coupled with meaningful youth initiatives” Funds raised over the weekend will support the youth through the NBRPA Chicago Chapter’s sports & educational programs, and promote NBRPA Chicago Chapter’s partnership with Albany Park Community Center, Inc. (APCC). For 37 years APCC has responded to the needs presented in the incredibly diverse neighborhoods on the northwest side

of Chicago. APCC takes every opportunity it can to empower the most vulnerable members of our community. Partnering with APCC shows NBRPA Chicago Chapter’s commitment to make a positive impact in the community. We at the NBRPA Chicago Chapter are very proud to provide our youth an opportunity to participate and interact with professional athletes during our weekend. Pres. Jeﬀ Sanders For more information on how you can support NBRPA Chicago Chapter and its many programs, please visit our website at www.nbrpachicagochapter. org

Houston

Houston Legends sign on to bank with BBVA Compass When the Houston Legends decided they needed a new bank to manage their finances, the choice was easy. BBVA Compass, official bank of the NBA, was the logical partner for the Legends, as members of the National Basketball Retired Players Association’s Houston chapter (NBRPA Houston) are known. Not only because of the bank’s partnership with the NBA, but also because of its reputation as a strong bank and good corporate citizen. “BBVA Compass stood out due to its focus on teamwork, people and community involvement,” said Major Jones, president of the chapter. “The bank’s proven commitment to the values we shared made our decision to bank with them an easy one.” The association and its membership found added comfort in knowing that two bank employees have strong ties with the association, and want to see it succeed. NBRPA Houston Vice President Kevin Loder recently joined the bank as a regional partnership banker and NBRPA Houston Advisory Board Member Larry Franco is the bank’s South and East Texas regional retail executive. On Nov. 1, Jones and Loder officially transferred the NBRPA Houston banking relationship to BBVA Compass during a luncheon hosted in the bank’s new corporate tower in Houston. The event was attended by members of the association, including John Egan and Ollie Taylor, and the chapter’s advisory board members.

“The new relationship between NBRPA Houston and BBVA Compass is a progressive and productive move,” said Elizabeth Lloyd, NBRPA Houston advisory board member and sales executive with the Houston Rockets. “Together, we ensure the ongoing ﬁnancial success of the Houston Chapter, allowing its members to continue supporting the community long after their playing days are over.” As part of the relationship with BBVA Compass, interested members of NBRPA Houston can also participate in Compass for Your Cause, a banking service that helps raise money for nonprofits through everyday banking activity. Monies raised will be directly reinvested into the association to help continue its charitable and educational initiatives, including basketball clinics and support for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education; health and wellness programs; and Project WET, a program designed to teach children to manage, preserve and protect water resources. “At BBVA Compass, we put the client at the center of everything we do,” said Franco. “We’re pleased to have the association’s Houston chapter as our newest client and look forward to providing unique solutions for their speciﬁc needs.”

Members of the National Basketball Retired Players Association’s Houston Chapter came together to officially transfer the NBRPA Houston banking relationship to BBVA Compass. From left: Kevin Loder, BBVA Compass partnership banker and NBRPA Houston vice president; Allen Leavell, NBRPA Houston member; Larry Franco, BBVA Compass district retail executive and NBRPA Houston advisory board member ; Jack Wootton, chief development officer of Christus and NBRPA Houstoon advisory board member; Ollie Taylor, NBRPA Houston member and board of directors member; Ray Mackey, chief operating officer of Delta Ventures, NBRPA Houston’s management firm; John Egan, NBRPA Houston treasurer; and Harvey Catchings, NBRPA Houston member and NBRPA national board member.

BBVA Compass, Official Bank of the houston Chapter of the NBRPA BBVA Compass, the new bank of the National Basketball Retired Players Association’s Houston chapter, is now entering its fourth season as official bank of the NBA. Through its partnership with the league, BBVA Compass has worked with NBA Cares on a multi-year initiative to educate students on the importance of fitness, reading and financial literacy. BBVA Compass volunteers and NBA, WNBA, and NBA D-League legends have all turned out to support the initiative at school events across the U.S. Sunbelt region. Additionally, BBVA Compass earlier this year tapped into the passion of basketball fans and the NBA’s national reach to offer NBA Banking all across the U.S. The NBA Checking account, which offers NBA game scores, team-branded Check Cards, and an opportunity to redeem credits for NBA Store merchandise, was introduced during 2013 All-Star in Houston with the help of NBA All-Stars Kevin Durant and James Harden. Durant and Harden also were featured alongside Iker Casillas and Andrés Iniesta from La Liga BBVA, Spain’s premier soccer league, in BBVA’s firstever global advertising campaign that launched this fall supporting NBA Banking. The bank also launched a #realfan social media promotion through which one lucky fan won a trip to each game of the NBA Finals. Checking accounts subject to approval, which may include credit approval. $25 minimum opening deposit required. Please refer to the Terms & Conditions (account disclosure) for your account for complete details. BBVA Compass is a trade name of Compass Bank, Member FDIC.

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Legends of Basketball To Give Back To The Community By Distributing Thanksgiving Dinners To Needy Families In NYC Hall of famer Nate “Tiny” Archibald and other former NBA players to team up with congressman Charles Rangel, the Teddy Atlas Foundation, the Our Children Foundation and other organizations to make it a Happy Thanksgiving for many families New York – The New York chapter of the National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA), the only Association comprised of NBA, ABA, Harlem Globetrotters and WNBA alumni, will be distributing Thanksgiving dinners to needy families in NYC from Friday, November 22 through Wednesday, November 27. Families will receive a complete Thanksgiving meal to make this a happy Thanksgiving. Former NBA players including Hall of Famer Nate “Tiny” Archibald, Albert King, Tom Hoover, Walt “Clyde” Frazier, Fred Crawford, Carl Green (Harlem Globetrotters), Steve Burtt, and Cal Ramsey are among the former players expected to participate. Tom Hoover, President of the NY chapter of the NBRPA, said, “We are dedicated to helping people who are suffering through hard times. We are always present in the community with fundraisers, clinics, and “stop the violence” and mentoring programs. And now, what better time to help the community than on Thanksgiving, a day that’s all about family and being thankful for what we have. Our members want to make sure that everyone has a happy holiday. I want to thank all of our partner organizations for their cooperation in this effort.” The NY chapter of the NBRPA distributed over 2,000 turkeys, with all the trimmings, every year for the past three years, working with different community-based organizations and churches. The schedule for the Thanksgiving giveaways are as followed:

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Friday, November 22 at 1:30 PM – Bed-Stuy Campaign Against Hunger (BSCAH) – 2010 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY. BSCAH is the largest food pantry in Brooklyn, distributing food to Brooklyn residents all year long. Friday, November 22 at 5:00 PM – Madison Square Boys and Girls Club – 240 Nassau Street in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn.

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Saturday, November 23 at 7:00 AM – Teddy Atlas Foundation – 543 Cary Avenue in Staten Island, NY.

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Saturday November 23 at 8:30 AM – P.S. 18 (John Peter Zenger School) – 502 Morris Avenue, Bronx, NY.

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Monday, November 25 at 12:00 PM – The Martin Luther King Jr. Democratic Club – 2155 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. in Harlem, NY (with Congressman Charles Rangel). Congressman Rangel and the NBRPA support many local community-based organizations.

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Tuesday, November 26 or Wednesday, November 27 (TBD) at 4:00 PM – Our Children Foundation – 525 W. 125th Street, New York, NY.

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BEHIND THE BENCH Real Wives

2013-2015 Behind the Bench Board Members President - Kristina Ratliﬀ 1st Vice-President – Dee Dee Abdur-Rahim Vice-President Corporate Development – Jazette English Vice-President Fiscal Aﬀairs – Diedra Toney Vice-President Fund Development - Cindy Boozer* Vice-President Membership – Dee Brown* Vice-President Public Relations – Donella Thorpe Recording Secretary – Ritza Whatley Corresponding Secretary – Dominique Leonard* Treasurer – Yolanda Smith Founder Deborah A. Williams Ph.D

Our History Behind the Bench, The National Basketball Wives Association formerly known as Women of the NBA was established in 1993, as a national non-profit organization by founder Deborah A. Williams, Ph.D. Its membership is composed of current and retired NBA players’ wives and life partners. As the first and only national player-wives organization, Behind the Bench’s agenda addresses the challenges that face our families, especially women and children. Behind the Bench raises money and devotes time to charities on a local and national level. Through heightened public and social awareness, members are able to reach into their respective communities seeking to profoundly enrich the lives of youth. In June of 1995, the organizations Charitable Trust was established and is the cornerstone of Behind the Bench. Members volunteer to administer the Trust, thereby allowing more than 50% of all charitable funds to directly benefit targeted charities. Beneficiaries of Trust funds have included: The Boys and Girls Clubs, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, The Children’s Assessment Center Houston, Ralph Lauren Cancer Center, Susan G. Komen for the Cure Circle of Promise and The Academy of Autism Orlando. Mission Statement Behind the Bench, the National Basketball Wives Association is committed to creating and strengthening internal and external alliances in order to impact and empower families by utilizing our network of resources across the country. 62

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Annual Conference Behind the Bench members spent four days together in Miami for our annual conference. We began the weekend with a welcome night at the Fountainbleu Hotel where members had a chance to catch up with one another and also purchase some goods from the local vendors that were invited to attend. Our community service project was a day of mentoring over 100 young girls at Honey Shine, an organization founded by member, Tracy Wilson Mourning. We also had a luncheon hosted by our conference sponsor, Cary Hall of UBS Financial. Mr. Hall shared information that was very helpful in regards to planning now for our ﬁnancial future. On our last night of conference, we had an All White party hosted by Worth Avenue Yachts on the GORGEOUS Hargrave Yacht. We had our awards ceremony, we danced to tunes played by the DJ that was onboard and had amazing food that was prepared by the onboard chef. Cocktails for the night provided by Grey Goose. Not only was the Hargrave exceptional, the staﬀ was incredible as well. By nights end we were all discussing how we were going to purchase the Hargrave! Or at least vacation on it!! All in all, the ladies of Behind the Bench had a wonderful time in Miami. Next stop, NYC

“Touching a Life” Luncheon Behind the Bench, The National Basketball Wives Association, will be hosting the “Touching a life” Luncheon in New Orleans, LA during NBA All Star Weekend 2014. The event will take place on Saturday, February 15, 2014 and include cocktails, lunch, live music and a silent auction. Behind the Bench is reaching out to request items for our silent auction. Proceeds from this event will beneﬁt Young Audiences of Louisiana, the leading provider of arts education and intergration programs in the state of Lousiana All members of Behind the Bench are wives of current and retired NBA basketball players. Wives and husbands will be in attendance for the luncheon. In addition to the BTB members and their husbands, there will be many high proﬁle players and invited guests that include, but not limited to, the owners of the New Orleans Pelicans and New Orleans Saints, Tom and Gayle Benson. If you would like to help by donating an item for our “Touching a Life” silent auction, please contact: Shannon Wesley, DWF 2112 Belle Chasse HWY #11-303 Box 303 Gretna, LA 70056-7138 Shannon Wesley 713-530-8022 REBOUND

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SUITE Life

By Susan Inwood

The Art of Giving NBA players, and NBA retired players, are one of the most generous and giving group of professionals in existence, donating time, services, memorabilia, and funds to enumerable charities and foundations across the country. There are many reasons why individuals and families consider making charitable donations. Whether part of an estate plan or simply the desire to support worthy charities and nonprofit institutions, many people use their financial resources to promote the causes they care about and create a personal legacy that sustains their individual and family values and ideals. Yet, despite a desire to give back to the community and the world, it can be daunting to put an appropriate philanthropic plan in place. So, let’s take a studied look at the ways to give, and what your options are. Formats for giving Charitable giving typically takes one of three forms: outright gifts, testamentary gifts and structured lifetime giving. While all of these approaches may provide tax savings for you as a donor, as well as much-needed support for worthy causes, there are significant differences between them. Outright Gifts provide immediate, one-time support to an organization. However, you typically have little control over how the money will be used and the gift may be of little ongoing benefit to your heirs. Testamentary Gifts (bequeathing money upon death, e.g., as part of a will) allow you to retain control and use of assets during your lifetime and to ultimately provide support for worthy causes. However, you will not witness or control the ultimate impact of the gift. Structured Lifetime Giving programs (e.g., transferring charitable gifts into a formalized entity like a trust or foundation) give you considerable flexibility in determining how money will be used. A program of this type can result in both immediate and ongoing benefits for the recipient organization and can be advantageous for you and your heirs. Gifts can also be structured to provide you (or others) with an income stream during your life. The following are common charitable vehicles for establishing a structured lifetime giving program.

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Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT). A CRT allows you to earmark assets for charity while you continue to receive an income stream. This is a beneficial approach for those who want disposition of highly appreciated assets which would otherwise potentially trigger a significant tax liability when sold or bequeathed. You receive an immediate tax deduction and an income stream is paid to you or your beneficiaries for the duration of the trust. At the termination of the trust, the charity receives the “remainder” value of your gift.

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Charitable Lead Trust (CLT). This trust is a choice if you want to support a cause but are also concerned about matters of estate or gift taxes when passing on wealth to heirs. Assets transferred to a CLT generate an income stream for the designated charity for a

specified period of time. When the term ends, the remaining trust-held assets are transferred to designated beneficiaries. The benefit of such an arrangement is potentially significantly reduced transfer taxes.

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Private Foundation. Once thought to be suitable only for the wealthy elite, private foundations are gaining broader appeal among families who want to maintain control over the grant-making process and management of donated assets. Private foundations (nonprofit corporations or trusts with tax-exempt status) allow you and your family members-or others whom you designate-to maintain oversight of the amount, timing and recipients of various grants. Other important aspects of private foundations are that they can result in high visibility and recognition, and can sustain a specific philanthropic vision or philosophy for an extended period of time. In fact, many private foundations are formed to last in perpetuity, thus extending a legacy over many generations. Leaving a legacy is important to many players. Instead of just gifting a specific sum to a charity, a personal private foundation can provide services for long periods of time, or literally, for perpetuity. Consider a scholarship fund, for example. Consider providing scholarships in your name for decades, or hundreds of years. A properly designed Private Foundation can be designed to accomplish this. Choosing the right plan to support your philanthropic goals Wells Fargo Philanthropic Services can help you and your family design a charitable giving program uniquely suited to your financial circumstances, family loyalties and social ideals. Our process begins with a review and assessment of your present and future resources, financial and family goals and charitable values. We then recommend a philanthropic solution for managing your social capital. With the preliminary structure in place, we can help implement and administer your plan, managing designated assets in accordance with plan objectives. Over time, we provide regular account monitoring, grant administration assistance with the preparation of certain required reports, and continuous planning support. Helping you support the causes you care about For more than a century, Wells Fargo has been helping individuals and families achieve their philanthropic and wealth management goals. This tradition continues with our dedicated Philanthropic Services professionals, who will work closely with you and your other Wells Fargo trust, investment and banking professionals—as well as with your personal attorney, accountant and other advisors—to integrate charitable giving strategies into your overall financial approach. We also maintain close ties with the philanthropic community and can help you evaluate options and identify opportunities for using your wealth to achieve the greatest benefits. Please contact me to learn more about how we can help you use your wealth to make a difference in the lives of others and create a charitable legacy.

This article was written by Wells Fargo Advisors and provided courtesy of Susan Inwood, Managing Director-Investments in Los Angeles, CA. at 310-843-3408 or susan.g.inwood@wfadvisors.com Investments in securities and insurance products are: NOT FDIC-INSURED/NOT BANK-GUARANTEED/MAY LOSE VALUE Wells Fargo Wealth Management provides products and services through Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and its various affiliates and subsidiaries. Wells Fargo & Company and its affiliates do not provide legal advice. Please consult your legal advisors to determine how this information may apply to your own situation. Whether any planned tax result is realized by you depends on the specific facts of your situation at the time your taxes are prepared. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (the “Bank”) offers various advisory and fiduciary products and services. Wells Fargo affiliates, including Financial Advisors of Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC, a separate non-Bank affiliate, may be paid an ongoing or one-time referral fee in relation to clients referred to the Bank. The role of the Financial Advisor with respect to Bank products and services is limited to referral and relationship management services. The Bank is responsible for the day-to-day management of the account and for providing investment advice, investment management services and wealth management services to clients. The views, opinions and portfolios may differ from our broker dealers: Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC and Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, LLC, Members SIPC, non-bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company. ©2009-2010, 2012 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC. 66

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LEGENDS Howard Smith

Howard Smith “of the Globetrotters”

Always a Smile a Handshake and How’s it Going? When Matt Fish asked me to write something for Rebound magazine, since I’ve photographed two All-Star weeks and two World Sports Conference weekends. I had to admit what most Legends probably recognize, I’m struggling to remember 100’s of names and know little about the ABA or NBA’s past. I grew up in a family that raced Funny Cars in the UDRA and NHRA in the 1960’s 70’s and myself, motorcycles in the 1980’s. Legends to me where: Don Garlits, Shirley Mouldowney and Don Prodhomme who where “neighbors” at the race track. The only professional Basketball player who went drag racing was Tom Hammonds and that was in the 1990’s I missed meeting him. Or have I at a Legends event? I’ve found the Legends/ members of the NBRPA to be a fantastic group, unassuming and camera friendly, which makes the “work” during the events a lot of fun. (The real work is the week on the computer following!) Having to do some research in order to write anything about a player, I chose one of the nicest guys I’ve met in the Legends, Howard Smith “of the Globetrotters” and that’s what I knew of him upon ﬁrst introduction because that’s all he had to say about himself. So this becomes what I’ve seen of Howard with the Legends and what Howard didn’t bother to tell me about himself until I looked it up and asked him some questions. I met Howard as we climbed into a van outside the Walt Disney World Swan in Orlando. The Legends Band headed for Evans High School as a part of the Legends Care Music & Education Series. Howard and I landed in the back seat together, where I opened up my camera bag and he spied my “stash” a couple of bottles of water, granola bars and Hostess fruit pies. He just smiled at me as I exclaimed “I never know where I’m going or how long I’ll be stuck there!” His response was simply something on the order of “oh you do know how to travel”. The incarnation of the Legends Band that day included Calvin Natt (bass), Luther Wright (guitar), Bob Elliott (drums), Andrew Toolson (keyboards), Howard Smith (keyboards) and Kym Hampton (vocals). Set up at Evans High School was “controlled chaos” I was impressed with how calmly they set up while Dan Barnett made a highly motivational presentation to the students. The band came on and did three songs backed by the schools marching band. Cheerleaders shared the stage and students came on stage impromptu singing with Kym, it was a fun scene. Two days later at the 13th Annual Legends Brunch the band played again and I learned that the lineup also 70 REBOUND

includes Terrry Cummings (keyboards and vocals), Thurl Bailey (vocals) and Anthony Avent (vocals). As I said, one of the nicest most outgoing fellows I’ve met always a smile a handshake and how’s it going. From posing with Army reservists to doing Radio interview time with Coach Charlie Hatcher on Sports Inside and Out. And on Sunday night: at the Orlando Chapters “after party” Fire and Ice at the Citrus restaurant where Howard was accompanied by his daughter Rishona and his cousin John Smith who lives in Orlando. Some things I didn’t know about Howard at the time. He’s from Birmingham Alabama, where he attended George Washington Carver High School 195963. He was on the track and field team as well as playing basketball. He ran low hurdles and was coached by Evelyn (Lawler) Lewis from Tuskegee University, mother of future Olympian Carl Lewis using “two chairs and a bamboo stick”. In his senior year he was Alabama State Champion in the 180 yrd low hurdles. In talking Howard didn’t delve deeply into his high school basketball career but it must have been highly competitive. He mentioned competing with Parker High School the largest Afro American high school in the area reminding me these where still the days of segregation. In fact it was a “big deal” when Coach Bob Wright brought Howard to Morehead State University a de-segregated school on scholarship. The side story is this; he chose to go to Morehead because it was within range of Cincinnati Ohio. “I asked the coach if we could go to Cincinnati from there and see Oscar Robertson play with the Royals, coach said yes so I went to Morehead”. That Royals team included Jerry Lucas and Wayne Embry as well. So he started college in track and basketball. On the track team he promptly met Jerry Betts from Cambridge Ohio who could outrun him in the low hurdles by almost a second so where talking basketball here. After a successful freshman year (freshman team required) Howard in his sophomore year became the first African-American to play varsity for the Morehead State Eagles. Bruce King also from Carver High School in Birmingham had joined Howard on the Eagles freshman team during second semester of the 1963-1964 season. As Howard said “I sent coach back to Birmingham to get Lamar Green and he also came back with Willie Jackson from a rival school”. This group Howard Smith, Bruce King, Lamar Green and Willie Jackson became known as the “Birmingham Four”. The first group of players to come from outside of Morehead States “general service region” they brought recognition to the MSU basketball program as a force to

be reckoned with in the Ohio Valley Conference. All four have been inducted into the Morehead State Athletic Hall of Fame. Howard graduated from MSU with a Bachelors of Science and Master’s degree in Education. Later a certificate in Advanced Education Study from the University of Alabama as well as doctorial study’s at the University of Houston. Next time I met Howard was in New Orleans for the Legends World Sports Conference August 2013. He was one of the first people I ran into at Li’l Dizzy’s Café. First stop on a whirlwind weekend as off from Li’l Dizzy’s we bussed to the Zephyrs baseball game where 20+ Legends threw out the first pitch for the evenings game. Saturday included Dedication ceremonies and a Basketball Clinic at the A.L. Davis Park, Central City although it was a very rainy day –covered outdoor basketball courts! Something I’d never seen before, Howard participated with a large group of players teaching basics and running drills with local youth. I had a ball shooting it as well. Another event of the day was a visit to the World War II Museum with a dozen players. Excellent museum and presentation with a multi media movie produce by Tom Hanks. My personal recommendation if your going to be in New Orleans this coming February for All-Star week (and no photography aloud during the movie, I had a break!) Howard tells me now how much he enjoyed the World War II museum as again “what I didn’t know about Howard” In 1967 there was a lot going on including the draft for the Viet Nam war. He was invited for a tryout with the San Francisco Warriors, had a offer from the Columbus Comets to play semi-pro and even received a letter of inquiry from the Dallas Cowboys football team as they where scouting basketball players. He signed on waivers with the Kentucky Colonels head coach Johnny Gibbons and joined the Harlem Globetrotters “West Unit” going overseas where his roommate was Curly Neal. While in Bologna Italy with the Globetrotters he received his draft notice and had to fly immediately back to the states arriving at Maxwell Air Force Base he was sent to basic training at Fort Polk Louisiana and on to advanced infantry training at Fort Ord California. While at Fort Ord he re-

ceived orders to Viet Nam but was categorized a “hold over” because his brother was already in Viet Nam. He was sent instead to South Korea, Camp Hoovy (or Camp “cold” Hoovy as Howard put it) Special Forces 7th Army Division where he spent 13 months. He was on the All Army Basketball team and in charge of the base gymnasium and recreation programs. The military was a two year obligation but the Globetrotters obtained his release 5 months early so (I can understand why Howard remembers this date exactly) on January 12 1970 he flew to Seattle Washington to meet the team, then directly on tour to Hawaii, the Philippines and Hong Kong without even a stop home to see family! In his time with the Globetrotters he traveled five continents, noting he missed Africa and Antarctica. Another side of Howard is his music, I asked when he started playing keyboards and he joked “ piano at four years old” but that didn’t last. He picked it back up when he met Nate Branch in the Globetrotters and used hotel piano’s to practice while on the road. He also played in a band while in the military as well. His music got more serious when in 1971 he married, and left the Globetrotters returning to Morehead State where he met Kevin Settles a music major, they started a live radio show called Jazz Scene which they did for two years and Howard took “real” music lessons. During this time he was student teaching and assistant track coach, thus began a long career of teaching and coaching. In 1973 he was back in Birmingham as head basketball coach at Minor High School. 1974-75 he coached basketball at Hayes High School leading the team to the regional semi-finals. 1976 it was off to Prairie View Texas as an assistant track coach (hurdles of course) and director of Intramural Sports at Prairie View A&M. From 1980-87 he coached at Houston high schools and in 1987 was again an assistant coach at A&M. Moving back east from 1988-91 he was Athletic Director, Basketball and Track Coach at Knoxville College. During this time he was still in the Army Reserves and was called back to service during Desert Storm, stationed in Saudi Arabia. His only regret about this was missing his daughters high school prom but was happily back home for her graduation.

In 1991 he moved back to the Houston Texas area to coach basketball at Montgomery high school leading that team to regional playoffs. He later coached at Alief Elsik High School (alma-matte of Rashard Lewis/Miami Heat Howard points out) and taught at Jane Long Middle School, retiring in 2007. During this period he also fit in a 2-3 year stint working in game management for the Houston Rockets at the Summit. I arrived in Houston where Howard is secretary for the Houston Chapter of the NBRPA. He greeted me in the lobby of the Hotel Derek with the same big smile, hand shake and how you doing. We visited several times in Houston and went to Jack Yates High School for the Legends Kids Get Fit Community Clinic. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee spoke presenting the Legends with a Congressional Certificate of Recognition, Arnie Fielkow unveiled the NBRPA’s Full Court Press program, successful to this day. And then the Legends took over the gymnasium for what they do best, teach the kids some basketball. Back to the music, these days he plays the dinner hour six nights a week at Raoul’s Italian Grill in Spring Texas (N. Houston) accompanied on Friday, Saturday and Sunday brunch by a guitarist playing standards and jazz. He also has a band called the Mix Masters, similar to the Legends with Rob Ashton (Harlem Globetrotter) on drums and vocals, and Chip Winkel on bass playing R&B covers. Outside of this he “works” at his golf game and is a volunteer little league basketball coach ~ busy guy and I’m happy know him a little better for writing this.

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LEGEND Jerome Williams

By Steve Mills

Former Knick coaches one of country’s top HS basketball teams HENDERSON, Nev

A day after he was named the new president of the Knicks, Steve Mills spoke with Jerome Williams, a high school basketball coach and former Knicks reserve who goes by the nickname “Junkyard Dog.” Why a figure of Mills’ stature would make time for someone who calls himself the “Junkyard Dog” is a question that speaks to Williams’ growing influence in high school, college and professional basketball circles. Williams is the coach of Findlay Prep, an elite basketball program that has sent five players to the NBA in seven years, including Anthony Bennett, the top overall pick in June’s draft. Three years ago, three other alums, Tristan Thompson (fourth), Cory Joseph (29th) and DeAndre Liggins (53rd) were selected by NBA teams as well. Williams regards Findlay Prep as akin to an NBA team, and he scours the world for talent to fill the roster. “It’s like being an NBA GM because we’re putting together a team,” Williams says. “We scout just like the league.” Over the past six seasons, Findlay has gone 192-9 and produced seven McDonald’s All-Americans— their jerseys decorate a wall in Williams’ office in red and yellow — while playing on ESPN’s family of networks 19 times. If the team seems too good to be true, it’s because on the surface, it is. Findlay Prep is not a traditional high school, but a basketball team that consists of just 12 players who live together in a private residence and barnstorm the country, playing a national schedule. The team operates out of a singleroom storefront office adjacent to the Henderson International School, just a quick drive from the Vegas strip. There at Henderson, the players take classes at a high school that consists of — you guessed it — the 12 students who make up the Findlay Prep basketball team. It’s a unique set-up that has drawn the ire of rival high school coaches as well as the attention of the NCAA, which recently labeled Findlay Prep a “non-scholastic” entity, barring college coaches from in-person recruiting. 72

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JOHN GURZINSKI/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Jerome Williams proudly stands in front of the Findlay Prep school logo Critics contend that Findlay Prep is nothing more than an AAU team masquerading as a high school and its education is a sham, similar to a diploma mill. But the faculty at Henderson International says otherwise, and not one student has ever failed to qualify for a Div. I scholarship in the school’s existence, Williams says. A former player at Findlay, Amir Garrett, did fail to qualify initially at St. John’s, an issue that Williams attributes to the player’s work at a prior high school. But after doing post-graduate work at another school, Bridgton Acadamy, Garrett did qualify. Williams isn’t overly concerned with how others or even the NCAA

view his program: He has grander ambitions for his players — and himself. Williams, who exudes charisma, charmingly refers to himself as the “JYD” and always wears a smile. He has designs of one day running his own NBA franchise, and he counts Mills and former GM and current Toronto Raptors adviser Wayne Embry as mentors. As a result, he sees his time at Findlay as laying the groundwork for taking over an NBA team. And he uses his NBA experience to introduce concepts, such as “branding,” to his players to make them aware of how to take full advantage of their earnings potential once they hit the big time. Williams even teaches a “Global Citizenship”

JOHN GURZINSKI/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Jerome Williams with Findlay Prep’s top talent Rashad Vaughn. class at Henderson on the nuances of NBA basketball. “I try to make them aware that every aspect of what they say or do can aﬀect the amount of money they’re able to make in their careers,” Williams says. “So if you want to make money, if you want to make an NBA check, I’m giving you the Cliﬀs Notes version on how to maximize the amount of funds you can make for you and your family.” If this all sounds bizarre — teaching high school kids about making money in the NBA — then welcome to the new, specialized age of high school athletics. What’s clear is that Findlay Prep represents a new model of prep school that has more in common with hyper-focused sports academies such as Nick Bollettieri’s tennis school in Bradenton, Fla., (now IMG Academy) than traditional high schools. And has inspired copycat schools to emerge in the hopes of duplicating its success, schools such as Huntington Prep (W. Va.) and Prime Time Prep, the school in Texas founded by former NFL great Deion Sanders. Assistant coach Andy Johnson describes Findlay as the “Juilliard” of basketball teams, citing the prestigious performance arts school in Manhattan. To others, however, Findlay represents a trend they’d like to see reversed. Bob Hurley, the legendary coach of St. Anthony HS in Jersey City, was aghast when he heard what Williams was doing.

“He teaches a class in the NBA?” says Hurley. “Really?” Hurley points out that only one in 32,000 high school seniors make the NBA and the average career lasts only around four years. With odds like that, why give players false hope? “If that’s the average number, then my God, aren’t we wasting time with this?” says Hurley, who refuses to play socalled basketball factories such as Findlay. “Life after basketball should be the course they teach instead of teaching NBA wannabes, so that they have a perspective it’s going to be a short career and nothing is guaranteed.” Ron Naclerio, who’s coached four future NBA players at Cardozo high school in Queens, fears that players might be tempted to leave college before they are ready because of the constant references to the NBA they’re getting at the school. “You know what the NBA stands for? No Boys Allowed,” Naclerio said. “When you’re still in high school you’re still considered a boy. They don’t realize. The NBA is a whole ’nother world.” But Williams views the issue from a diﬀerent perspective. As the top players spend less time in college, schools such as Findlay Prep grow in value, serving as ﬁnishing schools for future pros, he says. And who’s better to ofREBOUND

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Jerome Williams while he was playing for the Knicks. fer them advice on how to make the transition to the NBA than a nine-year veteran of the league who once interned for the league’s corporate oﬃce and served as a union vice president during his career? Williams, a 6-9 forward, last played in the NBA in the 2004-05 season with the Knicks. His NBA career came to an end when was waived by Isiah Thomas, but he says he still makes paid public appearances on behalf of the Knicks and Toronto Raptors, two of the four teams he played for in the NBA. He also still speaks at NBA rookie symposiums and helps out during NBA summer league, among other commitments.A scrappy fan favorite, Williams led the league in rebounding percentage in 2000 and won three NBA community service awards throughout his career, and he holds up his degree from Georgetown of proof of the importance of education. “I have worked for NBA organizations,” Williams says, sitting at his desk at Findlay Prep. “I have worked for the NBA. So I’m pretty well versed in all of the things pertaining to basketball as a business. And with that knowledge if you’re able to equip young people who are potentially McDonald’s All-Americans — who you and I both know have a great potential to become NBA players — it’s imperative that they have certain information in today’s social media (for their) long-term capabilities of making money.” Williams says that he’s spoken to 20 of the 30 NBA teams about his players at Findlay already, so he knows if a player is ready or not to make the jump to basketball’s highest level. “(NBA scouts) are already evaluating,” says Williams. “We’re on ESPN. NBA scouts can watch their games. They can see whether or not they have what it takes.” 74

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And though Williams didn’t come out and say he supports a player’s right to make the jump from high school to the NBA, others, like the basketball impresario and frequent NCAA critic Sonny Vaccaro, support a players’ right to make that decision. After all, it was Vaccaro who advised Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Jennings to skip college entirely and play in Europe in order to wait out the league’s age limit. “My theory would be to go to Findlay Prep and then be able to go to the pros,” Vaccaro said. “That would be what I would hope for these kids, rather than put these kids in a year of purgatory in college. If you look at their roster, every one of them that goes there thinks they’re going to be professional. And there’s no sin in that.” *** Rashad Vaughn, one of the top high school players in the country, walks into the single-room office of Findlay Prep, a book-bag slung over his shoulders. “What’s up Rashad? How’s class?” says Williams, seated behind his desk. “Boring,” the 6-6 Vaughn says with a sheepish grin. Williams does a double take. “See, that’s not the answer I’m talking ’bout ’Shad,” says Williams. During a recent visit, the coaches at Findlay Prep took pains to describe the relationship between Findlay and the Henderson International School. With the lurid history of diploma mills, it’s easy to lump Findlay in with those socalled basketball factories. But Findlay is vastly different, they say. Williams describes the school like this: “This is Findlay Prep of the Henderson school,” says Williams, who has sent his own children to Henderson’s lower school. “So we are a program within Henderson International School. We are fully scholastic.” Henderson consists of 430 students from preschool through 8th grade, along with the 12 students at Findlay Prep that make up the high school. And sure enough, there they were, 11 extremely tall students (the team is in the process of adding a 12th student) roaming the hallways on a recent school day, alongside their much smaller classmates. “Going to school here is just like going to school anywhere else at any other school,” says Vaughn. “We have to work hard in class. We’re just not around a lot of other kids our own age.” The Henderson International School consists of five buildings, with a football field with pro level field turf that’s no longer in use after the high school closed. The basketball team lives in two houses with a pair of assistant coaches less than a five minute walk up the road, while the team practices and plays its home games at the Henderson HS gym, which has a few bleachers and a weight room but is mostly sparse, nothing becoming a team of Findlay’s status. The team works out throughout the day, before and after classes, running up the nearby hills in the morning and lifting weights in the evening. For a social life, the team goes to the local high school in town for school mixes and frequents the town movie theater, but for the most part, the kids are on their own. Findlay Prep was founded in 2006 by Cliff Findlay, a Las Vegas automobile tycoon and UNLV booster who

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Jerome Williams a former NBA player who spent nine years in the NBA, puts his players to work on the court. purchased the house where the players live for a reported $425,000 and provides each player with a $40,000 scholarship. After serving ﬁve years as an unpaid assistant, Williams was promoted to head coach at Findlay over the summer — at a salary of $60,000 — after the former coach, Todd Simon, took an assistant position at nearby UNLV. Because of the unusual arrangement, the coaches and faculty ﬁnd themselves constantly explaining how the school works and that the players are indeed students. “They are high school boys, just like any other high school,” says Henderson International School headmaster Seth Ahlborn. “They live together; they eat together; they play together,” he said. “They just spend a lot of time together just like high school kids. It’s just smaller.” Donna Raucher teaches high school English at Henderson and she’s well aware of the perception that surrounds Findlay Prep. She hears the whispers that say the players are not getting a real education. They’re only there to play basketball. They’re hired guns. She boils.

“It’s kind of insulting to me because I give real grades, I give real assignments, I give real essays and they read real novels,” says Raucher, standing outside her classroom, her voice rising slightly. “So they obviously don’t know what’s going on inside the program if they have that feeling.” Yet everyone agrees the program at Findlay is anything but conventional. Ahlborn says he relies on the Findlay Prep coaching staff to bring in kids to Findlay and by extension Henderson. The school has hired another admissions officer to screen incoming students, so that it’s not just the coaches making the decisions, Ahlborn said. But it’s clear the coaches, specifically associate head coach Andy Johnson, who serves as the admissions director for Henderson and handles all the NCAA compliance issues, have sway on who gets in. “I would say Andy is the director of basketball for Findlay Prep (and he) is our admissions person for the high school,” Ahlborn said. “We have established criteria — Andy’s working off an established criteria (so it’s) not just ‘Andy thinks he’s a good basketball player’ and so we should take him.”

When the high school at Henderson shut down four years ago, it fueled rumors that Findlay Prep might have to move someplace else or might even disband. But Meritas, the company that operates the Henderson school and is owned by a private equity company, devised a format to allow the Findlay students to be able to take high school classes at Henderson by using middle school teachers and former faculty from the old high school, Ahlborn says. Williams and Johnson say Findlay only works because of the educational component. The coaches closely supervise the players’ work, making sure they are on pace to graduate and also meet NCAA requirements to qualify for a Div. I scholarship. “We have a 100% qualiﬁcation rate with the NCAA,” Johnson says. “We never had a kid not qualify.” “Division I,” Williams chimes in. “So while everyone else is talking — when (Div. I coaches) come to Findlay prep, there’s a few things that they pretty much know —(our players) qualify because we’re going to make (them) do the work. Check our track record.” REBOUND

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Jerome Williams has led his team to three ESPN High School championship trophies (l. to r.) in 2010, 2012 and 2009. *** When the NCAA branded Findlay Prep “non-scholastic” last month, it briefly threw into question the legitimacy of what the players and coaches have been working so hard to accomplish. A program that held itself up as a model of academic success was now off-limits to college coaches. In early September, Yahoo!Sports reported that Findlay Prep, along with Huntington Prep — another high school powerhouse — was off limits for in-person visits by college coaches after the NCAA ruled that both schools were “non-scholastic” bodies. At the root of the NCAA’s decision was the idea that Findlay and Huntington aren’t full members of the scholastic governing bodies that oversee the schools, which in Findlay’s case is the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA). According to an email obtained by YahooSports! from Jamie Israel, associate director of the NCAA’s academic and membership affairs (AMA) department, Findlay and Huntington Prep were in breach of an NCAA bylaw, which says that “a team that is affiliated with a scholastic institution, but not subject to the rules and regulations of a scholastic governing body would be considered a nonscholastic team.” Reached by phone, Eddie Bonine, executive director of the NIAA, said that Findlay Prep has always been a “quasi-member” of the NIAA in good standing but that because of Findlay’s 76

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unusual arrangement the NIAA simply didn’t have a category under which to grant Findlay Prep a full membership. When the NCAA decided to audit Findlay, they discovered that reality, resulting in the punishment, Bonine said. But Bonine also maintained that Findlay pays membership dues and follows the NIAA eligibility standards. Williams and Johnson send their student transcripts to the NIAA and follow state rules, says Bonine. As a result, Bonine believes the team will be granted full membership status on Monday when the NIAA has a board meeting to vote on the issue. The NCAA did not return repeated emails and calls for comment. “I don’t anticipate any glitch,” says Bonine. “I don’t anticipate a problem (with them being a full member). I have a decent rapport with my board. And Findlay Prep has done nothing but bring positive attention to the State of Nevada. They have done everything they said they would do and we have worked in lock-step together over the years.” Williams was similarly conﬁdent that Findlay Prep will get approved and the issue with the NCAA will be resolved. “We’ve already had talks with (the NIAA) and they were saying our intention is to vote you to be scholastic and that way we won’t have any issues,” Williams says in a phone interview. “It will have no choice but to resolve itself after that. If the state board votes

you in and they still don’t qualify then they should (punish) every school in the state.” Vaccaro was slightly more emphatic and colorful in his language. “You can bet the corner bookie that it will get passed,” he says. “(The NCAA) can’t hold them out. These kids from that school have gone on to college and their grades were good and to say they’re not part of a scholastic element is ridiculous.” Williams has no idea why the NCAA is punishing Findlay, citing the school’s previous academic success. “We’ve graduated 38 players with full NCAA Div. I compliance and of those 38 players we’ve had 10 graduate from Div. I colleges,” he says. “So if we’re not scholastic then I don’t know how we’re graduating kids who are NCAA qualiﬁed and graduating from college.” He suspects the NCAA’s punishment has something to do with the level of athletes that are coming out of Findlay Prep and Huntinton Prep. Findlay Prep produced the top pick in June’s draft and has won three of the past ﬁve ESPN National High School invitational championships, a prestigious tournament involving some of the top teams in the country. And Huntington Prep most recently produced Andrew Wiggins, widely considered the top freshman in college basketball, who has been compared to LeBron James, and goes to Kansas. “Maybe they don’t like these super schools turning out NBA and No. 1 draft picks,” Williams said. “I don’t know.” Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/ knicks/zone-knick-coaches-country-top-hs-basketball-teams-article1.1477320#ixzz2iloTXioE

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HEARSTRONG Foundation

Fourteen-Year-Old HearStrong Champion Discusses Overcoming Hearing Loss on iHeartRadio Fourteen-year-old Victoria Bradford discussed her journey with hearing loss on Sports Inside & Out during a live broadcast at the National Basketball Retired Players Association’s (NBRPA’s) annual conference in St. Lucie, FL Syracuse, NY (September 25, 2013) – Amongst an audience filled with championship athletes and coaches, one girl proved that champions come in all shapes and sizes. On September 21, Victoria Bradford, 14, of Vero Beach, FL, was celebrated as a HearStrong Champion during the National Basketball Retired Players Association’s annual conference in Port St. Lucie, FL. After receiving her official certificate and medal from Ed Keller, president and founder of The HearStrong Foundation, Victoria was invited to discuss her experience with hearing loss with iHeartRadio’s Sports Inside & Out during a live broadcast from the conference. Diagnosed with hearing loss at a young age, Victoria benefited from the early assistance of hearing devices and speech therapy. Today, Victoria is an accomplished student, musician and athlete. In recognition of her accomplishments, her audiologists at Associated Coastal ENT nominated her to be considered for the foundation’s top award. “By helping champions like Victoria tell their story, we hope to shatter the social stigmas surrounding hearing correction and help spread hearing health awareness,” said Keller. As the cornerstone of the foundation, which is fueled by the dedication of EarQ providers, HearStrong Champions are the men, women and children who acknowledged their hearing loss, sought solutions, experience their lives in the fullest and inspire others with hearing loss to take control of their hearing health. Roughly 36 million Americans experience the need for hearing improvement—and that number is on the rise. Recent studies have shown that one in five teenagers is losing their hearing ability, as well as 60% of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. However, due to lack of education and negative connotations, many people choose to not seek treatment.

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With the help of its champions, The HearStrong Foundation is working to end that once and for all. About EarQ: EarQ strives to revolutionize the hearing healthcare industry through innovative business and marketing practices, national public awareness eﬀorts and advocating for excellence in private patient care. Through its nationwide hearing healthcare locations, EarQ will work to shatter the stereo-

types surrounding hearing loss and empower the millions of Americans who suﬀer from it to take control of their hearing health. www.earq.com Like Us on Facebook: https:// www.facebook.com/MyEarQ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/EarQ

Help Honor a Veteran in Your Community with the HearStrong Foundation this Veteran’s Day The non-proﬁt organization is currently accepting public HearStrong Champion nominations of veterans who have chosen to overcome their hearing loss to reconnect to their lives. Syracuse, NY (October 21, 2013) – This Veteran’s Day, the HearStrong Foundation will honor an individual who has the strength to not only serve his or her country, but to take control of their health, as well. The HearStrong Foundation is currently accepting public nominations to celebrate a veteran who has overcome hearing loss to experience their lives fully. This individual will be named a HearStrong Champion during a special ceremony in their community on Veteran’s Day, November, 11th. Currently, 60% of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan experience hearing loss. “The men and women who serve our country are undeniably brave, but that strength is shown in many ways,” said Ed Keller, president and founder of the HearStrong Foundation. “One of which is making the decision to address their hearing loss. By doing so, they are choosing to reconnect to the things and people they love; the very things they protected.” As the cornerstone of the foundation, HearStrong Champions are the men, women and children who acknowledged their hearing loss, sought solutions, experience their lives in the fullest and inspire others with hearing loss to take control of their hearing health. To nominate a veteran in your community, click here: http://www.hearstrong.org/nominate.php. Roughly 36 million Americans experience the need for hearing improvement—and that number is on the rise. Recent studies have shown that one in ﬁve teenagers is losing their hearing ability. However, due to lack of education and negative connotations, only a fraction of those with hearing loss seek treatment. With the help of its HearStrong Champions, the HearStrong Foundation can change that view once and for all.

About the National Basketball Retired Players Association: The National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA) is comprised of former professional basketball players from the NBA, ABA, Harlem Globetrotters and WNBA. It is a 501(c) 3 non-proﬁt organization with a two-pronged mission to assist former NBA, ABA, Harlem Globetrotters and WNBA players in their transition from the playing court into life after the game, while also positively impacting communities and youth through basketball. The NBRPA was founded in 1992 by basketball legends Dave DeBusschere, Dave Bing, Archie Clark, Dave Cowens and Oscar Robertson. The NBRPA works in direct partnerships with the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association. Arnie D. Fielkow is the President & CEO, and the NBRPA Board of Directors includes Chairman of the Board Otis Birdsong, Vice Chairman Thurl Bailey, Treasurer Marvin Roberts, Secretary Steve Hayes, Past Chairman Robert A. (Bob) Elliott, Past Chairman Dr. George W. Tinsley Sr., Rick Barry, Harvey Catchings, Spencer Haywood, LaRue Martin and Johnny Newman. Contact: Paul Corliss, Vice President of Communications & Marketing National Basketball Retired Players Association #917-621-5744 pcorliss@legendsofbasketball.com

About HearStrong: The HearStrong Foundation strives to recognize the accomplishments of those who have overcome hearing loss and live their lives to the fullest. Headquartered in Syracuse, NY, the foundation is a world-wide advocate for hearing loss awareness, education and support. For more information about the foundation, or to nominate a HearStrong Champion, please contact: info@hearstrong.org Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ HearStrongFoundation Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HearStrong

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When you love the game, it shows. Introducing NBA Banking from BBVA Compass. NBA Banking lets you manage your finances while you follow your favorite team. Now you can customize your BBVA Compass Check Card with your team’s logo while you keep up with the latest NBA news and schedules right there in Online and Mobile Banking. You could get a $100 NBAStore.com electronic gift card when you make three qualifying online bill payments from your NBA Checking account. That’s banking built for you, the real NBA fan. bbvacompass.com/nba

All savings and checking accounts and Check Cards subject to approval, which may include credit approval. $25 minimum opening deposit. Please refer to the account disclosure for complete details. Products, features, and benefits offered with accounts are subject to change. Miscellaneous fees may apply. NBAStore.com Gift Card: NBA Checking accounts opened online through bbvacompass.com/nba may be eligible for a new account bonus. Qualifying accountholders will receive a $100 electronic gift card to be used toward the purchase of merchandise on NBAStore. com. Please review the following information to understand how to qualify for the bonus. In order to qualify for the bonus, accountholder must first initiate the bonus game by clicking “Activate” in the Rewards section of the Summary screen in NBA Online Banking. Within ninety (90) days of activation of the bonus game, the accountholder must make three (3) qualifying online bill payments of at least $50 each to unrelated third parties through NBA Online Banking Bill Pay service. Transfers made from PayPal, ING Direct, or from accounts owned by the customer (or related parties) at other financial institutions do not qualify. Each bill payment must be made to a unique payee. Two or more bill payments to the same payee will result in only one qualifying bill payment. Online bill payments must be processed electronically and completed by the deadline. Payments made by check or person-to-person (Pay People) payments do not qualify. Payments made by a third party debiting your account do not qualify. If three (3) qualifying online bill payments are made within ninety (90) days of activation of the bonus game, a “Redeem” button will appear in the Rewards section of the Summary screen in NBA Online Banking. By clicking “Redeem”, accountholder will be taken to the Rewards Center where a gift card number and PIN will be made available. The gift card may be redeemed for merchandise at NBAStore.com. The gift card is valued at $100. Account must be opened online via bbvacompass.com/nba. Only one bonus will be paid per eligible NBA Checking account. Accountholders with more than one NBA Checking account are limited to one bonus per accountholder. Offer is subject to change without notice. BBVA Compass may report the value of funds earned through this offer to the IRS as required by law. Other limitations may apply. †Mobile Banking: Message and data rates may apply. Check with your wireless carrier about such fees or rate plans. Allpoint® is a registered trademark of Cardtronics, Inc. BBVA Compass is a trade name of Compass Bank, Member FDIC. The NBA and NBA Team identifications are the intellectual property of NBA Properties, Inc. and their respective NBA Teams. Copyright 2013 NBA Properties, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 4

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