Dr. Jack Ramsay died in Naples, Florida this morning, he was 89-years-old. Ramsay is best remembered as the man who delivered Portland’s only NBA championship in 1977. In 1992, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Ramsay lived a remarkable life, having fought in WWII as a demolitions expert. He wrote about that experience for ESPN.
“I learned how important physical conditioning is. I learned how to focus on an objective in spite of all kinds of hazards. I learned how to deal with stress, too,” he wrote. “If you make a wrong move with explosives, it could be deadly. If you’re there when they blow up the beach, you get blown up, too. So you need to get your job done correctly … then pull the fuse with enough lag time for you to clear the area completely and get picked up by the small boats.
“I also learned that my connection with my team members was best handled by being in there with them.”
Ramsay took that teamwork mantra to heart, often saying that playing as a team trumped talent.
In 2000, Ramsay was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He beat that. He was later diagnosed with melanoma. He beat that too. He was also diagnosed with brain and lung tumors and bladder cancer. All the while he continued to call games on radio and TV, continued to write. He was an amazing man.
R.I.P. Jack Ramsay (February 21, 1925 – April 28, 2014)
Photo via Wikimedia