The Wizard of Westwood

Frederick Douglass, who escaped from being a slave in Maryland, was an American writer, orator, and statesman, once said, “It’s easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”

In other words, great men are not born and just happen to become; they are made and developed. They are intentionally poured into and taught from the time they are children.

John Wooden was, in my own opinion, the greatest coach to have ever lived. Yes, he won 10 national championships in twelve years, an NCAA record 88 victories in a row, and coach of the year seven times, but what makes him the greatest of all time was the way he impacted people, specifically the young boys he helped turn into men.

Before Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (a record six-time NBA MVP, a 19-time All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA selection, and an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team member, a 6–time NBA champion and, by the way, second all-time NBA leader in scoring with 38, 387) was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar he was Lew Alcindor, a freshman at UCLA and his basketball coach was John Wooden.

Alcindor was shy, insecure and trying to find his way in life when he arrived at UCLA’s campus. From day one, John Wooden loved and invested in his players. We get a glimpse of that love from a biography written by Pat Williams about John Wooden titled “Coach Wooden.” The book shares this starting at the very beginning of chapter two:

“From 1966 to 1969, Coach Wooden’s UCLA Bruins were anchored by a seven-foot-two-inch African-American named Lew Alcindor…On one occasion, during a road trip, the Bruins’ team bus pulled into a restaurant. As Lew Alcindor sat next to Coach Wooden, looking over the menu, he heard someone a few tables away whisper loudly, “Look at that black freak!”

Coach Wooden saw that his star player was wounded to tears by the comment. “Lewis,” he said, “people hate what they don’t know – and what they are afraid of. But don’t ever stop being yourself.”

John Wooden NEVER judged an individual by his height, ability, background, clothes, or skin color but by the depth of his character and the size of his heart. Wooden loved Alcindor because he was a man made in the “image of God.”

Decades later, Alcindor, now known as Abdul-Jabbar, and John Wooden remained the best of friends until Wooden’s death on June 4, 2010.

They say a good coach is someone who “makes you do what you don’t want to do so you can be what you always wanted to be.” They hold you accountable, challenge you, comfort you, and protect you. They see the potential of what you could be and want you to reach it more than you might want to. Why? Because they love you.

John Wooden not only loved his players deeply, but they loved him deeply in return. They say that Wooden coached basketball to make a living, but his calling in life was to impact people. To anyone reading, there is a generation of young people in your churches, schools, neighborhoods, and playgrounds who desperately need coaches—or a better way to say it, just someone who gives a rip about their lives and futures.

You don’t have to win NCAA championships to get involved with their lives. You can go to their games and watch them play; you can write them notes and congratulate them; you can pray for them and let them know it. The ways in which you can impact them are endless, but it will never happen if you don’t ever try! They need you. They need heroes and people who care and give them purpose and vision for their futures. It doesn’t have to be perfect, and it won’t be, but the effort alone could change a young man or woman’s life!

This bottom picture is such a beautiful thing. Wooden invested his life and heart into his players, his friends and his family. He defended them and in return they defended and protected him. As Wooden would call it, “…building a shelter for a rainy day…”

I challenge you to answer the call because some shy, quiet, and insecure kid out there needs a hero who is simply disguised as a friend.

“No written word nor spoken plea

Can teach our youth what they should be

Not all the books on all the shelves

It’s what the teachers are themselves.”

“Young people need models, not critics.”

 “I worry that business leaders are more interested in material gain than they are in having the patience to build up a strong organization, and a strong organization starts with caring for their people.”