SCOOP: The First-ever Listing of SDA-bred/ NBA-blessed Ballers and Execs

BY TIM ALLSTON

(Note: The following is excerpted from the print/digital/audiobook Where Jump Shots

Meet Jesus, written and narrated by Tim Allston, the former Regional Voice Magazine managing editor.)

My “Last Dance” Game

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” Philippians 4:8.

Three Lasting Words after My Last Jump Shot

ESPN’s “The Last Dance” 2020 series chronicled the 1990s Chicago Bulls’ front office first creating and then dismantling this winning NBA six-peat dynasty. Conversely, my “Last Dance” game evidenced both my dismantled basketball “career” while creating hopefully my new three-peat dynasty of living, loving, and learning.

Sunday, February 24, 2003, became my last basketball game as a player; local Elder Curtis Manning my last coach; and his last three words have stuck with me even longer than my last jump shot then and there.

Madison Mission SDA Church hosted our First SDA Church/Huntsville men's basketball team in a church league game, . . . . . And we First Church “AARP ballers” were no match for those young MMSDA thoroughbreds!

In the Zone . . .

Because our more traditional man-toman defense was not working to prevent or even slow them down from scoring, Curtis then switched us to a zone defense.

In a zone defense, each player is assigned to cover his specific territory or zone, instead of trying to cover a specific opponent on the defensive end of the court. Bottom line: regardless of our defensive formation, MMSDA still beat us like an African drum!

And Then, Our Drum Major Spoke . . .

On one such exchange, I launched my jump shot over my defender. Unsuccessfully, though. They rebounded my final jumper and raced back up the court attempting to score another basket. Embarrassed, I too raced back up the court, now having switched to playing defense…. But now … with a bruised ego.

Following my missed jump shot, I now sought to cover or defend against the player who had successfully thwarted my earlier jump shot attempt.

But this player that I was trying to defend against was not my assignment.

To this missed assignment, Manning yelled and then motioned to me –

“Tim, . . . TIM: Stay at home, stay at home!”

In basketball lingo, this directive orders a player to return to cover his or her territory on the defensive end of the court and not an individual opponent.

When a player fails to stay at home and cover his or her assigned defensive area, that area of the court is unprotected and exposes a weakness that could result in the opponent’s easier scoring opportunity.

My behind-the-back pass

Looking back, Coach Manning’s “Stay at home” directive needs to become a mantra for all men - especially husbands and fathers - to secure their families with their researched and identified NBA players and executives who have spent time with their families in SDA churches. They are:

4. 1992 Hall of Fame inductee Bob Lanier: Pistons/Warriors/Bucks, Emmanuel Temple SDA Church, Buffalo, New York.

Lanier, a three-time All-America center at Saint Bonaventure University grew up in Buffalo where he, his mother Nannette, and sister Geraldine attended the Emmanuel Temple SDA Church.

It was there that he befriended Cleveland “Murphy” Wilson, now the Inspirational Choir founder/director at Huntsville’s First SDA Church.

Early Remembrances and Sports Trivia sustained love, role modeling, and consistent presence.

Otherwise, their assigned zone of home and family to defend will be left unprotected and exposed.

When we men stay at home, typically:

1. Our families are more secure, our marriages are more intact;

2. Our sons and daughters possess a greater and more realistic role model to look up to; and

3. Our overall communities are more grounded and balanced.

And I also observed the importance of staying at home from the standpoint of the NBA . . .

“Stay at Home,” NBA Style

“Stay at home” seems to be more than just a short snippet of wisdom, but also a pattern for successful winning NBA dynasties.

In reviewing the legacy of my book’s featured dynasty leaders, “stay at home” worked well for each of them.

For example, each of this book’s featured leaders – Bill Russell, Magic Johnson, Scottie Pippen, Kobe Bryant, and Steph Curry – stayed at home and won multiple NBA championships with their original franchises.

My “Stay at Home” Advice directly from Hall of Famer Bob Lanier

In 1970, I just had to meet him, but not simply because of his basketball prowess. I had to meet him because of what else he and I had in common . . After all, he was to my knowledge the first SDA-bred/ NBA-blessed player.

BONUS: The SDA-bred/NBA-blessed “Starting Five” + Two, . . . Since meeting Bob Lanier in 1970, I have compare their foot size to that of Lanier’s.

The Allen Edmonds Shoe Corporation records that the largest shoe it ever made was a size 22 for him!

Because I had then harbored the fantasy of playing in the NBA, meeting firsthand and speaking with my fellow SDA “homeboy” was non-negotiable.

On Wednesday, October 21, 1970, the Celtics hosted the Detroit Pistons featuring Lanier, their rookie center and NBA's most recent #1 overall draft pick.

At Last, “Bob Lanier: how are you, sir?”

After the game, I snuck into the visiting team’s locker room and introduced myself to Lanier.

6. Be true to your values and practices; and

7. Do the will of God.

I took this future Hall of Famer’s parent-like counsel as authentic.

8. 2002 and 2010 Hall of Fame inductee “Magic” Johnson: Lakers, Bethel SDA Church, Lansing, Michigan.

Coaches’ Challenge

Murphy recalls, “My buddy Cleo Willis and I would get the biggest kick out of seeing Bob always come to church every Sabbath clean as a whistle: well-dressed in his suit, dress shirt, necktie, overcoat - and wearing sneakers!

“His feet were growing so fast back then that his parents couldn’t keep him in dress shoes fast enough!”

The Last Laugh . . .

Lanier’s grammar school basketball coach, for example, rejected the 11-year-old prospect telling him that his size-11 feet were too large for him to succeed as an athlete.

Today, however, visitors to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, are now able to

Captain Magic

(NBA)

A successful businessm whose assets exceed $500 million dollar, his trademark million-dollar smile, nd a favorite corporate pitchman

A perennial champion Self-dethroned in 1991 by his announcement of contracting HIV

Conquered HIV. His public announcement of his HIV-positive status helped dispel the stereotype, still widely held at the time, that HIV was a "gay disease" that heterosexuals need not worry about; his bravery in making this announcement was widely commended.

I explained briefly my conflict between being an SDA and wanting to play NBA ball. “What should I do, . . What’s your advice?”

Lanier paused from finishing getting dressed and looked me dead in the eye and said, “Young man: stay in the church and do the will of God.”

In so many words, Tim: stay at home.

As I shook his hand, wished him well, and exited the visitors' locker room, my immediate thoughts were less about the hypocrisy or the duplicity of him saying one thing and doing another.

Rather, it struck me more as a loving parent saying to their child “Do as I say but not as I do.”

But the bottom line from Lanier was still the same:

5. Stay at home;

Captain Naaman (NBA 2.0)

“. . . a great and honorable man in th e eyes of his master. . . .”

“Because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria” v. 1a.

“He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper” v.1b.

Conquered leprosy

9. In the NBA, coaches can challenge or dispute various referees’ calls, in their efforts to reverse a ref’s previous thinking and decision, and possibly the outcome of that game.

10. Here, my latest print/digital/audiobook Where Jump Shots Meet Jesus will challenge previous thinking, in an effort to reverse often long-held beliefs and expand one’s worldview.

In the end, Magic Johnson will be noted as a perennial champion, corporate pitchman, HIV victim-turned-victor, and spokesman for healing.

Who better to pair with Captain Magic Johnson the Super Laker than Captain Naaman the Syrian Leper of the Bible’s 2 Kings 5?

11. 2019 All-Rookie First Team Deandre Ayton: Phoenix Suns, Bahamas SDA Academy, New Providence, South Bahamas;

12. 2021 Slam Dunk Contest Champion Anfernee Simons: Portland Trailblazers, Patmos Chapel SDA Church, Orlando, Florida;

13. Brian Wright: General Manager, San Antonio Spurs, LaSierra University Church, Riverside, California;

Finally, our executives are -

14. Phillip McDonald, MD (on the right): Medical Analyst, NBA TV, from Mount Vernon SDA Church, Mount Vernon, NY, and currently attending Vallejo Drive SDA Church, Glendale, California; and

15. Daniel Bedney, MD: Team Physician, Osceola Magic, NBA G League, Patmos Chapel SDA Church, Orlando, Florida. t

Tim Allston is a Leadership Coach and three-time Amazon Best-Selling Author, specializing in “Leading from the Middle” presentations.