By Sam Amico
ProBasketballNews.com
It was 20 years ago, and I was just out of high school. I had no idea what I was doing. All I knew is I wanted to become an NBA general manager.
So I wrote a letter to every GM in the league. This was long before e-mail, and back when Web sites were chiseled in granite instead of read on computer screens.
Anyway, several GMs replied, most responding with
a form letter that said something along the lines of,
“Dear Dumb Kid, thank you for thinking of our team.
We have no openings and never will for a moron like
you. But please buy our merchandise and lots of
tickets to our games. Good luck with your search.”
Then came the letter from Donnie Walsh. Yes, he was running the Pacers even back then.
I can’t remember exactly what the letter said. It got lost somewhere between my many moves from Ohio to Wyoming to Idaho to West Virginia to Nebraska and back to Ohio again.
All I can remember is the letter was handwritten and two pages long. It didn’t really even mention the Pacers. It didn’t tell me I needed certain credentials to get a job like the one I was seeking. It didn’t come across as if I were just some dumb kid.
Instead, the letter from Walsh went on and on about how he “admired” how
I knew what I wanted out of life, how I seemed passionate about it, and how I should do whatever it takes to capture my dream. Only it had a lot less clichés than that. But you get the idea.
Walsh signed the letter and told me to keep in touch.
I never did, and part of the reason is because I gave up on the idea of running an NBA team -- simply because I started to believe that writing about one is, in my estimation, much more fun. If nothing else, it’s a heck of a lot easier.
But as my career unfolded, and I bounced all over the country at dead-end newspaper jobs, I thought a lot about Walsh’s letter. I kept the dream alive that someday, someone would pay me to write about the NBA. I knew I wasn’t like a lot of writers I know. I didn’t get into this business because I think there’s something admirable about breaking news, or reporting on trades, or because I think LeBron James might recognize me if he saw me in the mall.
I did it because it’s enabled me to stay close to the game I love, at its highest level, by doing something I can tolerate. The reporting aspect is actually the only part I don’t really care for -- it’s just a part of the job I have to do.
Anyway, I’m rambling.
I guess what I’m really doing here is finally writing back to Walsh. I’m saying thanks for taking the time to appreciate my passion -- and for helping me focus and re-focus on somehow getting involved with the NBA.
Walsh is leaving the Pacers and will reportedly run the New York Knicks. That will be no easy task. He’ll need to have the patience of Job. He’s basically taking over an expansion team, only expansion teams don’t have as much baggage.
I’m not sure why Walsh is choosing this path. Maybe he doesn’t even know. Or maybe it has something to do with front-office politics, the type of stuff we all run into at our jobs later in our careers. Or maybe it’s none of that. Maybe he just wants a new challenge. And what a challenge this will be.
Whatever the reason, I’m rooting for Donnie Walsh. After all, he once rooted for me when no one else would.
RANDOM STUFF
* Golden State guard Baron Davis’ wrap-the-ball-around his waist while hitting a reverse layup in traffic against the Lakers may have been the sweetest move I’ve seen all season.
* I’ll say this much … the Lakers-Warriors matchups on Sunday and Monday were definitely the best back-to-back games of teams playing the same opponents this year. And yes, I correctly picked the Lakers to win on the second night. (Sorry, I’m right so infrequently that I feel obligated to point it out in the few instances that I am.)
* Philadelphia can thank Pro Basketball News for gift-wrapping its victory in Boston. After all, longtime readers of my newsletter know that anyone I praise immediately turns to mush. And, you guessed, the Celtics had been ranked No. 1 in the PBN power rankings released on the day of the game.
* Phoenix has now been involved in the two best games of the season. The first was a double-overtime loss to New Orleans a few weeks back, and the second was Monday’s single OT loss to Detroit. And Suns fans can feel good even in defeat, as it took one of the league’s five best teams to snap their seven-game winning streak. Bottom line: The Suns (and especially Shaquille O’Neal) are playing their best basketball when it means the most.
