Rumors

But Walton had a different definition for personal success, one derived from the teachings of John Wooden, his legendary coach at UCLA. “The last lesson of life that John Wooden taught us was the measurement of success,” Walton said three years ago, “which he described — and now I comprehend and buy into — is success is the peace of mind that comes with the self-satisfaction of knowing that you’ve done your best. “It’s really easy to say that, but incredibly hard to accept it, embrace it and believe it.”

Los Angeles Times

Another thing is that Wooden and Kareem had completely different backgrounds as far as race and life experiences. How did those different perspectives shape their partnership? Scott Howard-Cooper: It was really fascinating. In some ways, John Wooden learned as much from college student, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as it was the other way around. Not in basketball, but in life situations. John Wooden was very comfortable with different races. That was never a problem for him. He had several Black players on his team. UCLA was known as a place that was very progressive and liberal. I don’t mean that in a political sense, but you were much more accepted as a Black student at UCLA than you were at most other campuses around the country. That’s one of the reasons that Lew Alcindor picked UCLA.

SportsKeeda

Clutch Points: Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. was gifted with a John Wooden alumni jacket after returning to UCLA 🙌 (via @MiamiHEAT) pic.twitter.com/xJTrfsmFQt

Twitter

Greg Lee, the point guard for Coach John Wooden’s unbeaten U.C.L.A. teams that captured the 1972 and 1973 N.C.A.A. basketball tournament championships, died on Wednesday in San Diego. He was 70.

New York Times

During an interview Wednesday on the Stoney & Jansen Show, Lakers legend and Hall of Famer James Worthy, a three-time NBA champ, was asked what he thinks of today's game and its heavy reliance on the three. And Worthy said the NBA has been diminished by "the rush of guys not going to college" -- or at least not going for more than a year. "I mean, Kareem had four years with John Wooden, Michael Jordan and I had three years with Dean Smith, Isiah (Thomas) had some years with Bobby Knight. So you learned the fundamentals," Worthy said. "Not only that, you learned how to live. You learned how to balance your freaking checkbook in college, there’s a lot of things. When you don’t get that, guys are coming to the NBA who are not fundamentally sound. All they do is practice threes, lift weights, get tattoos, tweet and go on social media. That’s it.

audacy.com

Walton credited his passing skills to coach John Wooden, who, during his freshman season at UCLA, put Walton in the high post and told him to stay there. Walton became frustrated that all he was doing was passing and setting screens. He grumbled to Wooden, who “would have none of my complaints,” Walton wrote. “I didn’t believe it at the time, but it turned out that playing the high post that entire freshman season was the best thing in the world for me,” Walton wrote. “It allowed me to develop skills that I would need as I moved up to each new level of competition. … “Later, when I found myself matched against the tallest players in the game, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, or Artis Gilmore or Ralph Sampson, I could step out to the perimeter, forcing them to come guard me. More times than not, that opened passing lanes for others to score.”

The Athletic

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: “I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear.” My old UCLA coach, John Wooden, used to quote that Walt Whitman poem often, and I’ve been hearing its echoes on the streets lately. The people out protesting systemic racism and vowing change are “singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs” about the America that could be — that should be. But in my 60 years of social activism, I’ve heard these gospel songs before and my fear is that once the spotlights go down, the sympathetic audience — now moved to tears by the chorus — simply goes home, the words to the songs quickly forgotten.

Los Angeles Times

Marc J. Spears: Former UCLA guard Earl Watson, a former Suns head coach, would have interest in the Bruins head coach opening, a source said. Watson connects well with young players, has strong AAU ties, is part of the UCLA history and was close to coaching legend John Wooden.

Twitter

If you listen to Brown's news conferences frequently, you pick up on his sayings. They're not as much aphorisms in John Wooden fashion but more locutions – a particular form of expression or peculiarity of phrasing. Sixers guard JJ Redick calls them Brett Brown-isms, and Brown has a bunch of them. Some are borrowed from previous coaching stops. Some he co-opted from places he once lived. Some he invented, which reveal not only a basketball philosophy but a life philosophy, too. "It's very effective," Redick said. "There's a clear vernacular that we use that's on our scouting report and is detailed in any film we watch. He uses the same verbiage. There's uniformity, so there’s no confusion if we’re talking about something. One of the things he loves about basketball is that it’s a team sport and any component of our game that emphasizes that, he's into it."

USA Today

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: The even greater significance those records had to me then, and has to me even more now, is in providing a platform to keep the discussion of social inequalities – whether racial, gender-related, or economic – alive and vibrant so that we may come together as a nation and fix them. Historically, that has been the greatness of the American spirit: we don’t flinch at identifying our own faults and using our moral fortitude and ingenuity to become a better nation. In honoring that spirit, I pay tribute to two of my most important mentors, UCLA coach John Wooden and Muhammad Ali.

The Guardian

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Playing sports for the first 40 years of my life molded my character in many of the ways we hope sports will influence our kids. My UCLA coach, John Wooden, used to tell us, “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” That is the lesson Americans want their children to learn from sports, but it is the exact opposite of the petty values Trump embodies.

The Guardian

Kerith Burke: When Bob Myers was on The Game today, he dropped a John Wooden quote when it came to the Warriors not making moves: "Don't confuse activity for acheivement."

Twitter

If the tutus were made of any other material, Stephen Curry would have had a much easier time trying to "wrap them" for his two daughters, who were waiting for him to get home with a present for Halloween. But these weren't silk or cotton tutus that Curry was trying to shove into an athletic bag Monday night after he scored a game-high 31 points in the Golden State Warriors' 141-113 drubbing of the LA Clippers. These blue-and-gold Warriors tutus were made from a stiff, chiffon-like material that was easy to smash or catch in a zipper. So Curry was, to paraphrase John Wooden, being quick but not hurrying. "We all have things more important than basketball in our lives," Curry said as he concentrated on placing the tutus in the bag just right.

ESPN

Coaching icons John Wooden and Tony Hinkle, the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and its home city of New Castle, and the 2018 IHSAA boys and girls state championship teams will be the 2017-18 Indiana Pacers Hickory Night honorees, the Pacers announced today. The Pacers also will wear new white Hickory jerseys on the Hickory Nights at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, as well as during road games against the Los Angeles Lakers (Jan. 19), Boston (March 11), Philadelphia (March 13) and the Los Angeles Clippers (April 1).

NBA.com