Visiting the Basketball Hall of Fame never gets old
I have visited this place twice in the past, but it never, ever gets old. Back in October of 1998, I had the chance to visit the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, which was located in an old structure, scheduled to be torn down as a newer, more state-of-the-art facility was being built across the field, to house the memorabilia, memories, and magnificence that embodied basketball greatness since the sport was founded by the venerable James Naismith back in 1891. This was, in fact, the second structure already, the first one having been opened in 1968, and moving sometime in 1985.
In October of 2002, I once again made the trek to the Hall at the newest and current structure, which had been inaugurated earlier that year in August, when one of my idols, one of the greatest of all-time, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, was inducted into the Hall, together with Coaches Lute Olson, Larry Brown, and Kay Yow, and the late, great Croatian player Drazen Petrovic.
Much had changed from my first visit. There were more attractions, many more inductees to read about, and much more information about the game I have loved since I can remember. Many people travel to the United States and plan trips to amusement parks, museums, and historical locations. I recommend to the millions of basketball fans in the Philippines, and around the world, that they include the Hall in their travel plans if they happen to head to the Massachusetts side of the States.
On 22 June 2013, eleven years later, I made my way once again to Springfield, still as excited as I was the first two times, especially since much had been added since my last visit and, well, it’s a basketball thing. I had already been talking basketball much of the night before since I was able to have dinner with Sofia Roman, a young lady whom I had written about in December, who will enter her sophomore year at Dartmouth in a couple of months, ready to play under a completely revamped coaching staff, following a disappointing season in NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball. I will have more on her soon, but the focus now is on the pantheon of basketball greatness, where I spent a few hours reading all the facts and figures that constituted all the players, coaches, and contributors there as Hall of Famers. Much of the information, I already knew, and others, I recalled as I went round and round, in and out, through and across the numerous exhibits, cabinets of collected and donated basketball-related artifacts. To me, this could actually be better than Disneyland.
I was with my brother, as well as some other family members, and he and I scoured every wall, every plaque and banner, to learn more and more about the game we have loved all throughout our youth and all the way into what we would want to call our current peak years. As what happened in 2002, he and I found certain mistakes or inconsistencies in the information provided in some exhibits – a misspelling here, a lack of mention of certain achievements for some inductees in their info panel, a not-so clear photo of an event. Former NBA Commissioner Lawrence “Larry” O’Brien, after whom the NBA championship trophy is named, had his name spelled as “Jawrence O’Brien”! I had to point this out to the person-in-charge. Hopefully, a quick correction is done as soon as possible.
There is a picture of Kevin Durant with his arms outstretched, where visitors can stand and compare their wingspans to that of KD’s. A photo of the NBA’s tallest and shortest players ever is also there, with my friend, 5’3 Muggsy Bogues, whom I wrote about earlier this year when he visited the Philippines, standing beside the late 7’7 Manute Bol. There was a “How high can you reach?” wall, with different spots marked that NBA players could reach – I didn’t even try that one. There is a “sportscasting booth” where you can pretend to call the game. I tried that in 2002, not knowing I would cover PBA games starting in 2004. Of course, there were pictures galore of all the greats: Abdul-Jabbar/Alcindor, Chamberlain, Bird and Magic, the Big O (Oscar Robertson), Jerry West, Cousy, the Malones (Karl and Moses), Barkley, the Dream Team, the Olympic squads, the European players, among others, and even a photo of a game between the Philippines and Mexico at the 1936 Olympics, with the game being played outdoors.
A visit to the Hall normally ends with the same last two steps. First, shooting hoops at center court, where there are many hoops at which to shoot, of varying heights and with various styles of backboards. Kids and adults alike, men and women, take a ball from the Hall personnel and just work out a sweat, shooting basket after basket. After that, the exit door leads right into the souvenir shop, where there are all sorts of stuff to take home, from shirts to books, bags to jerseys, pencils, mugs and most other things found in similar places. Displayed prominently are shirts commemorating this year’s batch of inductees, which will be enshrined on 06 September 2013. Included is one of my all-time favorite NBA players, Bernard King, and Gary “The Glove” Payton, whom I had a chance to meet when he was in the Philippines a couple of years ago. Others in the Class of 2013 are Brazil great Oscar Schmidt, ABA star Roger Brown, Richie Guerin, Dawn Staley, Coaches Sylvia Hatchell, Guy Lewis, Rick Pitino, and Jerry Tarkanian, and contributors Dr EB Henderson and Russ Granik.
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I was chatting with a Hall staff member and mentioned I was a blogger for Yahoo! Sports PH and that I would write about my trip there that day, when a lady beside me suddenly said, “I want you to say something in your article.” She introduced herself as Tammy Goode, and she “complained” to me that nowhere in the Hall is there even a mention of Loyola Marymount and its former coach, Paul Westhead, who won a championship with the Lakers in 1980. The reason she was upset is that her husband was a former Loyola Marymount star, and a first round NBA draftee (1990, 8th overall, LA Clippers), Bo Kimble, and she felt the school, or at least Westhead, should have been recognized somewhere there in the maze of basketball-related matter. She introduced me to her son, little Brendan Kimble, and told me that Bo was attending a ceremony for a player that had passed away due to a heart ailment (like Bo’s teammate, Hank Gathers), but that she would tell Bo that he “had to come” to the Hall the next day. As I said, it could be a basketball fanatic’s happy place.
I picked up some shirts and other souvenirs, and was informed by the cashier at the store, Rex Ramos, that I was entitled to a discounted item due my purchases, and of course I shelled out just a little more to get it. On my way out, I passed two very tall men who I had seen earlier enjoying the Hall as well, and had to turn around and ask them who they were, sure that they were ballers. They introduced themselves as Sean Carter of the University of Massachusetts, who now plays in Turkey, and Marshall Moses of Oklahoma State, now playing in a European League. I told them I would mention my encounter with them in my blog, and so I just did. Who knows? They might find their way to the PBA as imports one of these years.
I sometimes question the process of voting individuals into the Hall and the criteria the voters use. I do not understand how some outstanding players are either not nominated or nominated but not voted in several times, while others whom I deem not as outstanding are voted in on their first nomination. I have read that favoritism and politics rear their ugly heads in the nomination, selection, and voting processes. In any case, I do not have any control over that, and I cannot influence however the Hall of Fame Committee does it. What I do know though, is that, for me, the Hall is a place to be revered, to be appreciated, and cherished. Three times, I have experienced it, and I wouldn’t mind going again.
You can follow Charlie on Twitter, @CharlieC
Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.
