COVER STORY
THE FUNDAMENTALS OF LIFE
NBA All-Star and Olympic Gold Medalist, Allan Houston, to deliver keynote address By Nikki Puckett, Marketing Director, Sports Licensing and Tailgate Show
ALLAN HOUSTON’S BASKETBALL CAREER SPEAKS FOR ITSELF. He is best known for his years as shooting guard for the New York Knicks, (1996 – 2005). Touted as one of the “purest shooters” in the NBA, Allan finished his career as one of the NBA’s all-time greatest long-range shooters (#11 in three pointers made) and one of the all-time leading scorers in Knicks history (#2 in three pointers, #4 in total points, and #8 in scoring average). Allan is a two-time NBA All-Star, and in his last healthy season (2002-03) finished as the 10th leading scorer in the league. But for all his accomplishments he is especially proud of being named one of the “Good Guys in Sports” four times by The Sporting News and helping Team USA bring home the gold medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics games in Sydney, Australia. While he may be best-known for his years in the NBA, Allan Houston started learning about “The Fundamentals of Life” long before that. He grew up in the west end of Louisville, Kentucky, two doors down from Muhammed Ali. His father, Wade Houston, was the first Black scholarship basketball player at the University of Louisville. He later became the first Black assistant coach at the University of Louisville and then became the first Black head coach at the University of Tennessee. So, from a young age, Allan was surrounded by a high standard of excellence, leadership, performance and social impact.
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