Just learned of the recent death of a friend today. John was a 6’8” Division I baller years ago and he used to jokingly say his claim to fame was being schooled by both Barkley and Jordan during his college career.
I met John during my first season of coaching when his son Kane was on the middle school team. What made this so memorable was that Kane also happened to be autistic. It was often difficult to know with certainty whether Kane understood the directions being given. Heck, John & I used to jokingly say we weren’t sure whether Kane even knew the difference between offense and defense, but he always played with intensity and 100% effort.
We won the championship that season in a close hard fought game, and afterward, the team decided to give the trophy to Kane. Not because he was the MVP or a phenominal player, but because he gave everything he had each time he stepped onto the floor. John knew his son would never play college ball due to his autism, but he said watching Kane clutch that trophy was a close second.
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