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Who Really Invented Basketball? The ‘Human Calculator’ Thinks He Knows.

Austin Tang — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 16:18:57 +0000

The official story is that Dr. James Naismith invented basketball in Springfield, Mass., in 1891. But what about the teenager tossing cabbages in upstate New York a year earlier?

Just off the too-quiet Main Street in the upstate New York town of Herkimer, a man sat in a booth at Crazy Otto’s Empire Diner, making his case. Between bites of two eggs, three pancakes and a ham slice the size of a paperback, he politely defied accepted American lore.His case goes like this: Basketball was invented not by Dr. James Naismith in Springfield, Mass., in 1891, as everyone is taught, but by a Herkimer teenager who came up with the idea first, about a year earlier, while tossing heads of cabbage into a basket.

Before you say, “Check, please,” know that this stocky, white-haired heretic isn’t some random Herkimer eccentric; he is the Human Calculator, also known as Scott Flansburg, who has astonished people around the world with his ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide vast numbers with finger-snap speed. He may be the most notable Herkimer native since the Herkimer Hurricane himself, Lou Ambers, world lightweight boxing champion of the 1930s.

But Mr. Flansburg has set aside his wizardry to champion what he argues is his hometown’s rightful place in sports history, and he says he has receipts — well, some receipts. He has assembled a group of local leaders and created the nonprofit Herkimer 9 Foundation, dedicated to an admittedly improbable pursuit: to revitalize this town with a basketball-related museum, a basketball-related events center and even a pavilion topped with the world’s largest basketball.

“Basketball was invented on our Main Street,” Mr. Flansburg, 61, said, nodding toward the nearby avenue where there’s a lot not happening.

The Herkimer origin story has sat on the far end of history’s bench since at least the early 1950s. It has brought pride to a swath of Central New York but exasperation to, among other places, Springfield, home of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

When asked if someone at the Hall of Fame might discuss the Herkimer case, its curator and historian, Matt Zeysing, responded with an emailed, “No comment.” When asked if someone else might be available, Mr. Zeysing wrote, “That is the official statement at this time.”

Herkimer, located pretty much at the center of New York State, seems far removed from the multi-billion-dollar industry of professional basketball; it seems far removed, period. But the town is no different than any other community warding against time’s erasure of memory.

Herkimer has had its moments. The murder trial that inspired the Theodore Dreiser novel “An American Tragedy” took place in the old courthouse in 1906. The last woman to be hanged in New York met her fate behind the old jail in 1887.

And at some point in the 1970s, in one of its schools, closed and derelict now, a 9-year-old Scott Flansburg realized he could process numbers at breathtaking speed.

After serving in the Air Force, he began a career as a mathematical savant. Before long, the television personality Regis Philbin had nicknamed him “The Human Calculator.”

Mr. Flansburg, who tends to ask your birth date and then immediately tell you the day of the week you were born, appeared on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno”; was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records; published a best-selling math book; traveled extensively as a Pied Piper of numeracy. He settled in exclusive Paradise Valley, just outside Phoenix, and lowered his golf handicap. Life was good.

In 2019, with his father dying, he returned to a diminished Herkimer. Seeking consolation in the Herkimer County Historical Society, he asked to be told something surprising and a volunteer in his 80s said:

Well, how about that basketball began here in Herkimer?

The mere suggestion is basketball apostasy. The official story holds that Dr. Naismith was a young instructor at the International Y.M.C.A. Training School, which later became Springfield College. Assigned to create an engaging indoor activity that provided safe exercise, he came up with a game involving a soccer ball, two peach baskets and a set of 13 rules that he had typed up and tacked to a bulletin board in the gymnasium on Dec. 21, 1891.

But Dr. Naismith wasn’t first, said the volunteer, who directed Mr. Flansburg to a little-known book from 1952 called “I Grew Up With Basketball” by Frank J. Basloe, a Herkimer notable who had managed barnstorming basketball teams in the early 1900s. Mr. Basloe told the story of Lambert Will, the teenage director of the town’s new Y.M.C.A., who was said to have thought up basketball while throwing cabbages into a bushel basket at Ausman’s General Store on Main Street. This was in late 1890, a full year before Naismith was said to have posted the 13 rules.

The first-ever basketball game, Mr. Basloe wrote, was played between the Herkimer Y.M.C.A. 9 and the Herkimer Businessmen 9 on Feb. 7, 1891. A second match, against a team from nearby Little Falls, was played two weeks later. His book includes a photograph of the original Herkimer 9 team, including Mr. Will. One player is holding a ball on which someone has written “91-92” — as in 1891-92 — though it is unclear when that date was added.

Mr. Flansburg’s initial response: Nonsense. “It seemed like an easy thing to negate,” he said.

After his father’s death, Mr. Flansburg went back to his Arizona paradise, only to return to Herkimer in 2020 when Covid restrictions canceled his mathematics roadshow. He decided to dig in and disprove.

Burrowing into the historical society’s dusty corners, among copies of long-gone newspapers (The Mohawk Courier, The Ilion Citizen) and evocative artifacts (the trombone used by Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Shaul in the 1920s, the high-wheeled bicycle that George Nellis rode to San Francisco in 1887), he found some corroboration in Mr. Basloe’s book, including the locations of the market, still standing, and the Y.M.C.A. building, now a parking lot.

Intrigued, Mr. Flansburg put on a mask and visited the archives of libraries and historical societies across the region. He came away convinced that, at the very least, Central New York — and Herkimer in particular — had been pivotal in basketball’s early evolution (a claim also made by Holyoke, Mass.).

“Something was up,” he said

He tracked down two historians, the brothers George and Darril Fosty, who had written a very brief article about the Herkimer angle in 2010. “We just got ridiculed,” George Fosty recalled. “People just thought we were nuts.”

Or worse.

A few months after the Fostys published their squib online, a wealthy alumnus of the University of Kansas, where Dr. Naismith coached and taught for most of his career, paid $4.3 million for the 13 original rules after the document was put up for auction by the doctor’s grandson, Ian Naismith. (The document, regarded as basketball’s sacred scripture, is now enshrined at the university.)

The Kansas City Star described the grandson at the time as being sick of hearing about Mr. Will. “I want Herkimer out of my life,” he said, before getting really mad.

“I’m ready to kick some ass,” Ian Naismith, who died two years later at 72, was quoted, precisely, as shouting. “I will hurt somebody. Whoever says it can face me, and I’m 260 pounds.”

George Fosty, who weighed about 300 pounds at the time, was not concerned. Still, he and his brother set aside the project until being contacted a dozen years later by a man calling himself the Human Calculator. Soon they were delving deeper into the past with Mr. Flansburg and another Herkimer native, Brion Carroll.

In 2022, the Fosty brothers, with Mr. Carroll, published a book with a flagrant foul of a title: “Nais-MYTH: Basketball’s Stolen Legacy.” It combines circumstantial evidence and what Mr. Carroll called “if this, then that” logic to upend the game’s origin story.

The book recounts Lambert Will’s late-life recollection that in 1890, the Springfield Y asked the greater Y.M.C.A. network for suggestions of new indoor athletic endeavors. He sent in his thoughts, which included the rudimentary rules for what became basketball, but he never heard back. And so, the story goes, Mr. Will arranged for his new game to be played in Herkimer, with two teams of nine men.

The book points to a Utica Daily Press article from 1898 that said Herkimer had a basketball team in 1891. It refers to a Herkimer Evening Times article from 1940, about a 50th anniversary basketball reunion, that said basketball began in the Mohawk Valley “at the Herkimer Y.M.C.A. in the fall of 1890.” It names a man who, in later years, had said he witnessed the first game at the Herkimer Y, and had produced his 1891 Y.M.C.A. membership card as proof.

It raises questions about Dr. Naismith’s shifting accounts of the game’s development, as well as his other odd claims, like eating rabbit could make someone run faster, or that he had invented a stretching machine to make people taller, or that he had invented the hair dryer.

The book also notes a curious detail about the 13 original rules, now displayed at the University of Kansas. A handwritten date at the bottom of the document, “Feb. 1892,” has clearly been erased and replaced with “Dec. 1891” — a date that would better align with the official Naismith narrative.

Dr. Naismith is believed to have changed the date when he signed the document at the behest of one of his sons, in 1931. But a University of Kansas website and the 1996 reprint of Dr. Naismith’s book, “Basketball: Its Origin and Development,” include an image of the document bearing the original February 1892 date.

But, but, but. As with Mr. Basloe long ago, Mr. Flansburg and his team have found no smoking-gun document. No news clippings of games played in 1891, no Y.M.C.A. documents, no correspondence. Some records, in fact, are missing, leading to mutters of a conspiracy.

“It’s like a special ops preceded us,” Mr. Carroll said.

What they do have is the recollection of Mr. Will, who served in the Spanish-American War, volunteered as a firefighter for more than 60 years and ran a printing business. He joined Mr. Basloe in the 1950s in a protracted campaign to have the Basketball Hall of Fame located in Herkimer (1950 population: 9,400) — only to lose out to Springfield (1950 population: 162,000) — and died the day before his 88th birthday in 1964.

“All I know is that I played my first basketball with a head of cabbage in 1890 and played the first game on my mother’s birthday, Feb. 7, 1891, after I had made up enough rules for a game,” he once said. “I am not looking for any glory for what I did for basketball, which I am thankful to think a head of cabbage gave so many people and myself a great deal of pleasure.”

Another day at Crazy Otto’s Empire Diner, Mr. Flansburg sat with one of Mr. Will’s grandsons, Dennis Will. He is 66, with a long gray beard.

Though his memories of his grandfather are faint, he clearly remembers joining two dozen Will relatives on a 1994 trip to Springfield, where the Basketball Hall of Fame held a small celebration of Mr. Will centered on a display of a few mementos borrowed from the family. It was a private videotaped affair, no press, that lasted less than a half-hour.

The display quickly disappeared, and Mr. Will said that the mementos have never been returned to the family, despite repeated requests. The moment seemed to define the decades-long struggle, and Mr. Will choked up in a booth at Crazy Otto’s.

“Credit where credit’s due,” he said, with reddened eyes.

Mr. Flansburg escorted Mr. Will and his wife, Laurie Will, along Main Street, its sun-baked emptiness interrupted by an old bar here, a new restaurant there. They paused in front of the once-grand but long-shuttered building where Lambert Will threw cabbages into a barrel.

The Human Calculator talked of Herkimer: what was, what is, and what, maybe, could be. He talked like every sports fan who ever was, knowing the odds but rooting still for the long shot.

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BOSTON CELTICS WIN THEIR 18TH CHAMPIONSHIP

Austin Tang — Tue, 18 Jun 2024 14:57:57 +0000

Listen to “BOSTON CELTICS WIN THEIR 18TH CHAMPIONSHIP” on Spreaker.

Enjoy in case you didn’t hear it

#bostonceltics #18thchampionship #nba #nationalbasketballassociation

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Basketball in Central Park

Austin Tang — Thu, 17 Aug 2023 22:26:42 +0000

Listen to “Basketball in Central Park” on Spreaker.

Basketball in Central Park with two young tourists from Dubai who play beautiful basketball.

The post Basketball in Central Park appeared first on Good News!.

Central Park Basketball

Austin Tang — Sun, 11 Jun 2023 19:34:59 +0000

Listen to “Central Park Basketball…” on Spreaker.

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What Does Peace Mean to Coach Gary Waters ?

Austin Tang — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 21:41:29 +0000

For more information please visit: http://goodnewsplanet.com/ten-principles-of-a-character-coach-by-gary-waters/

#Peace #Mean #Coach Gary Waters #basketball #Author #book

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Ten Principles of a Character Coach By Gary Waters

Austin Tang — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 21:28:54 +0000

Ten Principles of a Character Coach provides clear experienced-based advice on how to be a character coach.

Within Ten Principles of a Character Coach, Coach Gary Waters defines a character coach as someone who lives a life with integrity, honesty and moral values. He speaks specifically on how the sport of basketball has been riddled with scandals in recent years on the high school and college levels; and how the governing authorities are committed to repairing the reputation of college basketball. Ten Principles of a Character Coach addresses many of the issues that young men and women are experiencing in the athletic arena today. Coach Waters believes character and values need to be a high priority in those individuals tasked with guiding young people, as well as themselves.

Note; 98% of the players graduated college who were coached by Mr. Waters he told Good News.

Furthermore, Coach Waters is convinced that following the principles within Ten Principles of a Character Coach will benefit anyone in developing their character. Ten Principles of a Character Coach (ISBN 978-1631950858 by Morgan James Publishing (December 15, 2020) Available on Kindle for $11.68 and $12.30 as a Hardcover) is for anyone looking to hone their leadership abilities and improve their communications in every aspect of their lives.

In an interview on your program Coach Waters can talk about:

How he will be working with police departments across the nation to end systemic racism and instill the 10 principles found in his book to offer a great sense of integrity, character, empathy, and leadership in law enforcement.

How the 10 principles come together to make an incredible leader

How he stayed focused on his team and continuing to lead when fortune, fame, and celebrations were around every corner.

What the most challenging issues are that face young athletes today and how this book can help them overcome them

How applying these 10 principles got him to where he is today

and much more!

Praise for Ten Principles of a Character Coach

“Character Coach is a breath of fresh air. It is a reminder that the real value of coaching is ‘influence’ not a won/loss record.

I highly recommend this book, especially for young coaches.”

—Dale Clayton, Vice President, Nations of Coaches

“This book is definitely insightful; every coach and manager

will benefit greatly from reading it. It’s a must read for any leader.”

—Johnny Dawkins, Head basketball Coach, Univ. of Central Florida

“The Ten Principles of a Character Coach is an effective guide for us always to

‘Do the Right Thing!’ The reader will find in this journey a plan to reach the ultimate victory of being a value-driven character coach.’’

—Laing Kennedy, Former Athletic Director, Kent State University

“Throughout the reading of Character Coach, it gives youa unique and personal perspective that all coaches at any level will be able to appreciate and learn from.

This book is a must-have for anyone who wants to enrich his or her life, as well as the lives of those around them.”

— Ernie Kent, Former Head Basketball Coach, Washington State University

Basketball Specialist/Director, Athletes in Action (AIA) “Gary has written a must-read that transcends any professional genre. The 10 Principles of a Character Coach

establishes character and morality-driven fundamental practices, for all aspiring and veteran coaches to infuse, into their coaching DNA.

This book is a blueprint for individuals, who aspire to lead others.”

—Mike Krzyzewski, Hall of Fame Inductee, Head Basketball Coach, Duke University

“In a world where values seem to be decreasing and tweets are increasing, the standards by which we measure a person’s character has become blurred.

Gary Waters 10 Principles of a Character Coach reminds us what is important and how to conduct our lives to make a difference, in the lives of others.

This book guides us through Waters’ life experiences as a coach, father and man of God, sharing golden nuggets of wisdom on character building.”

—Bill Self, Hall of Fame Inductee, Head Basketball Coach, University of Kansas

“In my 48 years of coaching, Basketball has always been a vehicle to develop the next generation. The life lessons learned in athletics are instrumental in the growth

of the student-athlete. The Character Coach epitomizes the foundational truths of integrity, discipline and character.”

—Vivian Stringer, Hall of Fame Inductee, Head Basketball Coach, Rutgers University

“With the ever-evolving dynamics in any professional genre, there remains one

constant for all leadership success; CHARACTER. Gary Waters

has done a tremendous job of conveying practical character attributes,

for leadership development. The Ten Principles of a Character Coach is a must-read for all professionals.”

—Tom Izzo, Hall of Fame Inductee, Head Basketball Coach, Michigan State University

Publisher: ‎ Morgan James Publishing (December 15, 2020)

Language: ‎ English

Hardcover: ‎ 136 pages

ISBN-10: ‎ 1631950851

ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1631950858

About the Author

Coach Gary Waters earned his reputation building college basketball programs. He was the winningest coach in the history of Cleveland State University. During his time at the school, Coach Waters won 194 games and led the Vikings to six postseason appearances. In 2009, Cleveland State made the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the second round after shocking Wake Forest. He rebuilt three programs — Kent State (92-60, five years), Rutgers (79-75, five years) and CSU — into winners. Coach Waters led Kent to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1999 and a second in 2001 before leaving for Rutgers. The winner of numerous honors, he was 2008 Horizon League Coach of the Year; 2011 Horizon League Champions; inducted into The Ferris State University and Kent State Hall of Fame; and winner of the John Lotz Barnabas Award by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes for the 2009-10 season. Coach Waters was named a Master Coach by the Nations of Coaches in 2015 and served on the board of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Coach Waters is a Detroit native and graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration from Ferris State in 1975, a B.S. in Business Education from Ferris State in 1978, and an M.A. in Educational Administration from Central Michigan in 1976. He currently resides in Tampa, Florida. Check out his website @ www.coachwaters.com and get social with the coach on FaceBook | Twitter!

#Ten, #Principles, #Coach Gary Waters, #basketball, #scandals, #years, #high school, #college #interview #Author #book

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2021’s Best & Worst Cities for Basketball Fans – WalletHub Study

Austin Tang — Thu, 27 May 2021 15:51:15 +0000

Listen to “2021’s Best & Worst Cities for Basketball Fans – WalletHub Study” on Spreaker.

With the NBA playoffs kicking off on May 22 and the NBA recovering from a 50% revenue drop last year due to COVID-19, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2021’s Best & Worst Cities for Basketball Fans, as well as accompanying videos.

We speak to Jill Gonzalez of Water hub, Dr. Larry Gluck and Austin G.-S. Tang also share their thoughts. A Good News time was had by all.

To find the best cities for professional- and college-basketball fans, WalletHub compared more than 290 of the largest cities across 21 key metrics, ranging from the performance level of each city’s NBA and NCAA Division 1 basketball teams to ticket prices to stadium accessibility.

Best Cities for Basketball Fans
Worst Cities for Basketball Fans
1. Los Angeles, CA
283. Santa Clara, CA
2. Boston, MA
284. Berkeley, CA
3. Salt Lake City, UT
285. Evansville, IN
4. Philadelphia, PA
286. Wilmington, NC
5. San Francisco, CA
287. Daytona Beach, FL
6. Miami, FL
288. New Britain, CT
7. San Antonio, TX
289. Montgomery, AL
8. Houston, TX
290. Pocatello, ID
9. Washington, DC
291. St. George, UT
10. Oklahoma City, OK
292. Stephenville, TX

Best vs. Worst

Charlotte, North Carolina, has the lowest average ticket price for an NBA game, $32.05, which is 3.9 times less expensive than in San Francisco, the city with the highest at $125.43.

The Houston Rockets have the highest performance level among NBA teams, 68.34 percent, which is 2.3 times better than that of the New York Knicks, the team with the lowest at 29.31 percent.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs have the highest performance level among college basketball teams, 89.87 percent, which is 8.3 times better than that of the Chicago State Cougars, the team with the lowest at 10.85 percent.

Miami has the highest fan engagement for NBA teams, 43.40, which is 30.6 times higher than in New York, the city with the lowest at 1.42.

To view the full report and your city’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-cities-for-basketball-fans/11034 (https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-cities-for-basketball-fans/11034)

https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-cities-for-basketball-fans/11034

#best #worst #fans #basketball #cities #sports #football #covid #pandemic #nba #uniforms #teams #revenues #traditions #stadiums #tickets #costs #college #ncaa #winners

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Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were among nine people killed in the helicopter crash

Austin Tang — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 12:50:09 +0000

Welcome to a somber Monday in sports. By now, you’ve heard that Lakers legend Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash in California on Sunday. Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were among nine people killed in the crash as they were reportedly on their way to participate in travel basketball when the helicopter went down.
Kobe was 41 years old.
Here’s what we know right now:
The crash happened just before 10 a.m.
Nine confirmed deaths and no survivors
A brush fire caused by the crash prevented first responders from immediately getting to the site
An investigation of the crash is ongoing
Kobe was unquestionably one of the best players and biggest icons that the NBA has ever seen. He was also a complicated person who had a past that included a troubling allegation of sexual assault in 2003 (criminal charges were never filed and a civil case was settled out of court).
But regardless of your feelings toward Bryant, the fact remains that Sunday was one of the most tragic days that the sports world has seen in quite some time.
It’s a day that I’ll remember — at least in small, painful snippets — for a long time. I feel as though I’m always going to remember exactly where I was when I slid open the lock on my phone to find out that Kobe had died. I feel like I’m always going to remember how difficult that was to believe. And, most unfortunately, I feel like I’m always going to remember how much sadder the story got as the day(s) went on.
‌
What you need to know
1. Remembering Kobe
For a little while after the news broke, there was a sort of numbness. Kobe was a basketball legend, but he also had a larger-than-life persona. He seemed immortal, and it felt like he was going to be around basketball for a long, long time to come. It felt like an incredible second act was inevitable, partly because Kobe would refuse to accept anything less.

The emotional weight really started to set in once the tributes and the remembrances started pouring in. There was never really a doubt, but Bryant’s enormous impact became evident as figures in the sports world and beyond expressed their grief over the loss.
“I loved Kobe — he was like a little brother to me. We used to talk often, and I will miss those conversations very much. He was a fierce competitor, one of the greats of the game and a creative force.” -Michael Jordan
“This is hitting me really hard. I will always remember coming home after games so I could watch you dominate in the fourth quarter! You inspired so many around the world, including me.” -Dirk Nowitzki
“Kobe was a legend on the court and just getting started in what would have been just as meaningful a second act. To lose Gianna is even more heartbreaking to us as parents.” -Barack Obama
“People don’t know this, but he was my secret coach. He pushed me and motivated me, especially toward the end of my career when I needed him most.” – Alex Rodriguez
Kobe’s passing seemed to hit especially hard for those in the Lakers organization, where he spent his entire 20-year NBA career.
“I love him, his family and what he stood for on the court and off the court… the game of basketball & our city will never be the same without Kobe.” -Magic Johnson
“Most people will remember Kobe as the magnificent athlete who inspired a whole generation of basketball players. But I will always remember him as a man who was much more than an athlete.” -Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
“Kobe was so much more than an athlete, he was a family man. That was what we had most in common. I would hug his children like they were my own and he would embrace my kids like they were his.” -Shaquille O’Neal
Between the emotional messages and the photos/videos shared — especially those with both Kobe and Gianna — it was a really, really sad and painful day to get through.
2. Other tributes to Bryant’s legacy
Sunday’s tributes to Kobe went beyond just messages on Twitter. No matter where you turned your attention, Bryant’s presence was felt. There were a number of other ways that the basketball icon was remembered after his passing.

Lakers fans started a memorial outside of Staples Center on Sunday afternoon
Trae Young ditched his usual No. 11 and wore a No. 8 jersey to begin Sunday’s Hawks game
Several NBA teams voluntarily took 24-second shot clock violations and eight-second backcourt violations as a way to honor Bryant’s jersey numbers
NFL players delivered tributes to Bryant during Sunday’s Pro Bowl, including celebrations mimicking his trademark shooting form
Multiple artists, including Alicia Keys and Boyz II Men, paid tribute to Kobe at Sunday night’s Grammy Awards
Our NBA columnist Bill Reiter penned a pretty moving piece that reflects on Kobe’s legacy not only as a dominant basketball player but, more importantly, as a loving father to Gianna and his three surviving daughters:
“Kobe Bryant was a changed man, as we all are, in the love he had for his children,” wrote Reiter. “It added to the complications and the nuances that made him — and make him, still — the most beloved sports figure in Los Angeles history. It adds to the heartache and horror of what has happened.
“To say Kobe Bryant is just a single thing is to miss the 50 others that shaped him. He was all of them — the father, the husband, the star, all the complications and warts and greatness wrapped together. But fatherhood framed something about him that, while probably always there, cast his greatness and impact into a different, deeper light.”
3. Loss beyond Kobe
While we all grieve the loss of one of the NBA’s most iconic superstars, it’s important to remember that he was just one of nine people to perish on Sunday. The loss of Gianna Bryant, 13, with all of her potential and promise, is also gut-wrenching. We’ll never know the athlete and person she could have grown into, or the future generations of girls she could have inspired.
And then there’s Vanessa Bryant, who isn’t among the deceased but simultaneously becomes a widow, a grieving mother to a young child and a lone parent to three others. And those three girls simultaneously lose a father and a sister. It’s just absolutely brutal. There’s no other way to put it.

But the Bryant family isn’t the only one coping with loss following the crash, and we should all make sure to take time to think of each and every one of the nine victims, as well as those close to them.
John Altobelli, the head baseball coach at junior college powerhouse Orange Coast College, was also on board with his wife, Keri, and their daughter, Alyssa.
Girls’ basketball coach Christina Mauser died in the crash as well
Three other victims have yet to be identified
Chief medical examiner said the official identifications could take days
Aaron Judge, Scott Kingery, Michael Lorenzen and Jeff McNeil are among the current MLB players who played under Altobelli when he managed the Brewster Whitecaps in the Cape Cod League from 2012-2014. On Sunday, McNeil credited Altobelli as one of the biggest reasons he’s still playing professional baseball.
“Tough to hear the news of coach Altobelli,” tweeted McNeil. “One of my favorite coaches I have ever played for and one of the main reasons I got a chance to play professional baseball. Both the baseball and basketball world lost a great one today.”

#kobebryant #giannabryant #kobegianna #bryantfamily #lakers #restinpeace #rip #praying #prayingforbryantfamily #legend #la #losangeles #lalakers #losangeleslakers

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Video & Podcast – Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo

admin — Sun, 01 Jul 2018 17:17:02 +0000

Video & Podcast – Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo
Mutombo Peace Talks

http://goodnewsplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Dikembe-mutombo-peace-tribute.mp3 RECIEVES AN AWARD AT THE NBA AWARDS.GOOD NEWS GUY!!!

(born June 25, 1966), better known as Dikembe Mutombo, is a Congolese American retired professional basketball player who played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Outside basketball, he has become well known for his humanitarian work.

The 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m), 260-pound (120 kg; 19 st) center, who began his career with the Georgetown Hoyas, is commonly regarded as one of the greatest shot blockers and defensive players of all time, winning the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award four times; he was also an eight-time All-Star. On January 10, 2007, he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the second most prolific shot blocker in NBA history, behind only Hakeem Olajuwon. He averaged a double-double for most of his career, and is 12th all-time in career double-doubles and tied for second all-time in career triple doubles involving points, rebounds and blocks.

At the conclusion of the 2009 NBA playoffs, Mutombo announced his retirement. On September 11, 2015, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

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Harlem Globetrotters’ games at Madison Square Garden this weekend, Click for Facebook n YouTube…

admin — Wed, 22 Nov 2017 14:57:19 +0000

To prepare for the Harlem Globetrotters’ games at Madison Square Garden this weekend, Zeus McClurkin made an impossible 120-foot shot from the top roof at the World’s Most Famous Arena. Dubbed as “world’s most famous trick shot,” Zeus accomplished the feat this morning (Nov. 21). The footage and accompanying music below are approved for media (courtesy Harlem Globetrotters). Digital media are encourage to embed the video.

Via Facebook

Via YouTube

NOTE: The Harlem Globetrotters will play two games at Madison Square Garden on Friday, Nov. 24 at 12 p.m. And Saturday, Nov. 25 at 1 p.m. Tickets are still available for both games.

The Globetrotters’ “Amazing Feats of Basketball” World Tour will bring eight additional games to the NYC area from Dec. 26-31, including a third game at The Garden on Dec. 27.

Full schedule and tickets are available at HarlemGlobetrotters.com/NYC.

Harlem Globetrotters International, Inc.

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