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Downloaded from
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YTS.MX

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Hello again,
everyone, and welcome

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to South Central Los Angeles,
Verbum Dei High School.

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And Raymond
Lewis, 23. A six foot junior
averaging 23 a points game.

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32 against Beverly Hills,
13 against Riverside,
30 against Villa Park.

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Can you
imagine Michael Jordan
never playing in the NBA?

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Can you
imagine Magic Johnson
never playing in the NBA?

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Four for Lewis...

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It's watching
this painter paint
his Van Gogh.

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That's why I guess
I can sit here 40 years later
and talk about Raymond Lewis.

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That's why you don't forget.

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As they say,
Raymond Lewis is

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the baddest dude
you've ever seen, you know?

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Here's a guy that
made it to the first round
of the NBA draft...

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...and never played
a game in the NBA.

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Perhaps the greatest
pure shooter

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in the history
of basketball in this country.

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Raymond Lewis,
the six footer...

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He was one of the first
to be held out of the league

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because he refused to take less
than what he was worth.

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He was blackballed.
That's what happened.

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Raymond was
a once-in-a-generation
kind of talent.

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He's one of those guys
that come along,
blazing bright.

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His star was so bright
and so intense.

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And then, to not allow that
to be exhibited and
to be displayed,

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man, that was heartbreaking.

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The real question is,
50 years later, who was
Raymond Lewis?

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Who? Who was this guy?

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He was already
the legend that he is.

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Ray Lewis, I guess the thing
everybody's most interested in

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is your shooting ability.
How did you develop it?

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Well, I just
practice a lot. That's all.

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Well, when did you...
Did you start off

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when you were
a small kid with something
in the backyard, maybe?

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Yeah. I played in my back...
Like, I grew up in in Watts,
as you know, like...

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Basketball in
Los Angeles, in Watts,
South Central, and Compton.

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It's what everybody
wanted to do.

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You played basketball
because you wanted
to be the best,

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'cause you wanted
to go to college.

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Played all day long
on Saturdays and Sundays
and probably

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played too much in the evening
where I didn't do my homework.

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As a youngster
growing up in Watts,
it was a great experience.

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Although we had
the Watts riots, as
a youngster, you're kind of,

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uh, naive to, you know,
what's really going on.

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And, like, I had
a basketball pole
in the backyard,

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one that my father put up.
And, like, me and my cousin,

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we'd practice back there
a lot, a whole lot, you know?

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Raymond and I
basically played basketball,

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uh, every day,
uh, three times a day.

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I do
remember this house,

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My dad grew up here
after his parents divorced.

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There was
a basketball court back here.

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This was the barbershop
that his grandfather
cut hair out of.

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You know,
my grandfather put up
a light in the back

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because Raymond would be
shooting in the dark.

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So, he put the light up,
so, you know, he'd be
able to see.

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You know,
his grandparents,
they were, like,

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the first group
of affluent black people

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that moved here
and owned property,
owned liquor stores.

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Growing up, he had
a bunch of cousins.

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They... You know,
they went to church.

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If you ever watch the movie,
Soul Food, that was our family.

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They could've
took a picture
and put us all there.

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And if we wasn't there,
somebody was calling.

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First time I heard
about Raymond Lewis,
I was in junior high school.

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We heard about Raymond.
We like, "Man, we heard
about this boy."

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They wouldn't call him Raymond.
They would call him Ray Lou.

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And then they used to talk
about this kid from Watts
that no one could stop.

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Man, Ray Lou could go, man.

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Ray Lou was good. We like,
"Who is this cat, Ray Lou?"

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There was a coach.
His name was Caldwell Black.

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He introduced us to team games.

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Basketball was my life.
I'm running a pro league
in my gym at night.

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Raymond was
a product of Caldwell Black.

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All of us were a product
of Caldwell Black.

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He coached kids
in the city schools

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and became a magnet
for the special guys
who wanted to play some ball.

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So, I kept my league going,
I kept my ball players playing,

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and then,
I had the pros planned.

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And everybody
in town playing this
night league basketball.

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Raymond began
to mimic all my ball players
in my league.

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He loved the ballplayers.
He loved the ballplayers.

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Did you pattern
yourself after anybody
in your early days

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and do you now?

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Well, right now,
after Charlie Scott.
But, like...

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Well, you know, it was just...
Like I just... Yeah, just
after Charlie Scott. That's all.

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Did you choose Charlie?

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He getting better and better.

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Caldwell
had a tournament,
a junior tournament,

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and it was
the biggest tournament
in the city.

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And we ended up
in the championship game.

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And we were actually winning,
and they turned this guy loose.

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When he came down,
he was between his legs,
behind the back,

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between his legs,
behind the back.
He'd pull off from 30 feet.

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Boom! I've never
seen anything like that before.

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Here I am, 13-year-old kid.
I'm like,

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"Is he a Harlem Globetrotter
player or what?"

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And this guy must've made,
like, ten straight baskets...

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and won the game.

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So, then,
the Raymond story starts.

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In the following year,
after we had graduated
junior high school,

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we end up
at Verbum Dei.

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See, Verbum Dei
High School was
sort of an experiment.

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Right after the Watts riots,
they put this fine little
private school

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run by the Jesuits,
right in the middle of Watts

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with the specific mission of
educating underprivileged
minority boys.

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For the most part,
I mean, people were trying
to make amends

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to some of the horrors
that had happened.

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So, it was... I think that was
the beginning of a bridging,
I should say,

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of racial equality,
or at least acceptance.

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you know,
during that period of time.

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In fact, this last year
of our graduating class,

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seventy five percent
went on to college,
which we're very happy with.

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And they wanted to build,
as most Catholic schools do,
a fine athletic program.

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The basketball team
started that.

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We started out
at Verbum Dei,

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playing as sophomores
for the varsity team.

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It was him, and
Bobby Walters, and myself,
Randy and Dwight.

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Nobody was quicker,
but it was that ball handling.

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I mean, how are you
going to dodge somebody

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that can move as if
they didn't have the ball?

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Raymond was
doing stuff back in the 70s
that they're doing today.

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He's coming out with this move.
He said, "Dwight,
watch this move."

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I thought about his move.

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He'd come down on you
and he'd throw the ball
over here,

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and bring it back.
No one was doing that.

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Both hands.
Now, they call it
the crossover.

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He was doing that
back in high school.

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I recall his
sophomore year
at Verbum Dei.

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I was amazed at
what I was witnessing.

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In 1969, played at
Katella High School.
It was my senior year.

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We played in
a 2A championship.

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It was one
of the greatest games ever.

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Both teams,
full-court press,
the whole game.

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It was both teams.
I mean, it was like, get on it.

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And it was about,
could they stop us or not?

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They couldn't stop Raymond.
They couldn't stop us.

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He was
an incredible player.

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I mean,
he wasn't just a scorer.

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He wasn't just a passer.

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He was a team player,
and he helped
everybody else get better.

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And we won
the championship.

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Oh, it was beautiful.
It was beautiful.

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I mean, those days,
I cherished those days.

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That was just
the beginning for us then.

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I did not know that

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you know, that we weren't
playing the best teams,
you know,

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in Southern California
when we was at 2A.

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I'm thinking we're playing
against the best schools
there was.

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So, I was constantly complaining
to George, like,
"Hey, man, we're not playing...

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"you know, who's Centennial?
And who's Compton?

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"Who's Larry Hollyfield
and Dwight Taylor?" you know?

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"And when are we
gonna play these guys?"
You know what I'm saying?

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I don't want to be
playing against,
you know what I mean,

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the, you know,
these little small guys,
you know?

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So, they said, "Okay, Raymond,
before you graduate, we're gonna
play the 4A," you know?

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We were known
that we were coming after
another championship.

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And I guess they tried
to put us in a higher division

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where the competition
would be a little better
for us, right?

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They moved us up to 3A.

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In the fourth quarter,
Raymond Lewis,

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surprised by coach, Pat Adams,
and the finest high school
guard I've ever seen.

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The tip's no good.
It's coming down,

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picked up by
Raymond Lewis, and Lewis,

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has the first two
of the afternoon.

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One of the first times
I saw Raymond

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was trying to make
a little extra money
refereeing some games.

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I was
a college athlete myself.

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Raymond Lewis,
17-footer, it clicks.

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You know, I just
saw this guy that was, like,

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the best basketball player
I've ever seen.

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Raymond Lewis
trying to put a move on.

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And for him to get
this good, he must have
started practicing

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sometime when he
was three years old.

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63-53 Verbum Dei.
And now, Verbum Dei
gets two more...

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as Raymond Lewis
gets his 20 up.

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We did get to a point when
we played one particular
tournament in Inglewood,

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and we did
lose a game from
a lot of controversial calls.

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Okay, there's
situations that I think
viewers should know

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that Verbum Dei went through
in the civil rights movement
in the 60s.

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Verbum Dei is, like,
an all-boy black school.

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It was obvious
they didn't want us to win.

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I mean,
every game we went into,

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we played against
seven people.
Five and two refs.

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But during
that Christmas tournament,

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we got 33 fouls
called against us versus three.

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It was really lopsided.

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Coach George McQuarn
took us off the court.

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00:11:32,126 --> 00:11:34,476
And next thing I knew,
Coach George said,
"Let's go."

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We just walked off the court.

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And later,
he got suspended.

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And that's how
Caldwell Black came
into the picture.

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00:11:49,099 --> 00:11:51,754
There's
Caldwell Black. Everything's
gone his way so far.

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00:11:51,798 --> 00:11:53,669
We've played
a minute, 46 seconds.

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00:11:53,713 --> 00:11:57,499
And to us, that was
just like, "Oh, man.
Santa Claus had came to town."

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Gives the ball
to his teammate, Lewis.

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Three on one. Chivers.

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00:12:03,157 --> 00:12:05,768
Mr. Black took over the team
at mid-season.

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00:12:05,812 --> 00:12:08,249
And Verbum Dei
has a freelance offense.

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00:12:08,292 --> 00:12:10,120
This team loves to run.

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00:12:12,775 --> 00:12:15,822
Verbum Dei
this year has set a CIF
record for one game

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with 134 points.

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00:12:17,824 --> 00:12:19,608
The action
is fast and furious.

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Both teams are trading baskets.

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00:12:22,698 --> 00:12:24,831
Jumper's good
from the outside by Lewis.

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I had one rule.

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If you steal that ball,
you get to shoot it.

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00:12:29,487 --> 00:12:31,402
I don't care if you
turn the flip.

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00:12:31,446 --> 00:12:34,014
I don't care what you did.
You can shoot it.

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00:12:34,057 --> 00:12:35,798
You understand?
They miss no lefts.

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00:12:35,842 --> 00:12:37,931
Once they steal that ball,
they're gonna go.

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00:12:37,974 --> 00:12:39,846
That's the prettiest thing
you wanna see.

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00:12:43,719 --> 00:12:47,375
Raymond was...
He was a star, man.

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00:12:47,418 --> 00:12:50,639
Raymond was such a star
at 15 years old that they were

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asking for his autograph
15 years old, 16 years old.

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00:12:54,512 --> 00:12:57,646
So, he came up
out of that environment
where people he knew,

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Raymond knew,
"You know what?
I know I'm special."

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00:13:00,997 --> 00:13:04,740
No one was
hotter than Raymond Lewis
from his Verbum Dei days.

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00:13:04,784 --> 00:13:09,832
He was the person
everybody was watching,
and he was a neighborhood star.

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Even though
you weren't from Watts,
you embraced Watts.

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00:13:13,749 --> 00:13:17,840
Anything that happened in Watts,
you know, you took pride in.

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Though Lewis,
number 23,

224
00:13:19,842 --> 00:13:22,410
got it all started.
He led the Verbum Dei attack.

225
00:13:26,675 --> 00:13:29,286
Well, I had finished organizing
the Olympic Project
for Human Rights,

226
00:13:29,330 --> 00:13:31,680
and was writing my dissertation
here in San Jose,

227
00:13:31,723 --> 00:13:35,031
and I heard about this kid
who was tearing up the Southland

228
00:13:35,075 --> 00:13:37,817
by scoring these
phenomenal number of points.

229
00:13:42,212 --> 00:13:43,997
Having been
a basketball player myself,

230
00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:46,521
I knew that you just
didn't roll into that.

231
00:13:46,564 --> 00:13:49,350
And you most certainly
didn't roll into it
consistently,

232
00:13:49,393 --> 00:13:51,004
time after time after time.

233
00:13:51,047 --> 00:13:54,007
We have not
lacked for excitement
or action.

234
00:13:54,050 --> 00:13:56,923
Behind the back
dribble by Lewis.
One minute to go.

235
00:13:56,966 --> 00:13:57,967
There's the gun.

236
00:13:58,794 --> 00:14:00,317
It's all over.

237
00:14:00,361 --> 00:14:04,931
Verbum Dei
has won its 25th game,

238
00:14:04,974 --> 00:14:08,978
defeating
Rancho Alamitos 94-75.

239
00:14:09,022 --> 00:14:11,763
Caldwell Black,
Congratulations on this victory

240
00:14:11,807 --> 00:14:14,897
and getting into the finals
of the CIF 3A final.

241
00:14:14,941 --> 00:14:17,291
What'd you think of
your team's performance today?

242
00:14:17,334 --> 00:14:21,164
They went all the way
for me. We went all the way.
That's all I can say.

243
00:14:21,208 --> 00:14:23,775
And Verbum Dei,
wanting the net.

244
00:14:27,518 --> 00:14:30,521
Raymond was MVP.

245
00:14:30,565 --> 00:14:34,438
Conversation about him
potentially becoming a pro

246
00:14:34,482 --> 00:14:39,008
started swarming around
about the end of
our junior year.

247
00:14:41,968 --> 00:14:43,970
We knew we were good.

248
00:14:44,013 --> 00:14:47,756
because we were
going around the city,
beating everybody in pickup.

249
00:14:47,799 --> 00:14:50,193
That's what ballplayers did
over the summer,

250
00:14:50,237 --> 00:14:52,761
looking for
the next tough game.

251
00:14:52,804 --> 00:14:56,417
We go to
Crenshaw, Fremont, Jeff,
all around the city,

252
00:14:56,460 --> 00:14:59,724
playing against
all the top players.
No one could beat us.

253
00:14:59,768 --> 00:15:04,164
We would always
go to El Camino College.

254
00:15:04,207 --> 00:15:07,036
And people like Tarkanian
and a host of other coaches

255
00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:09,256
would actually
show up at the gym

256
00:15:09,299 --> 00:15:11,954
in the summer
to watch Raymond play.

257
00:15:11,998 --> 00:15:16,741
In UCLA, I think
Wooden did make some contact
with him at some point.

258
00:15:16,785 --> 00:15:19,701
I know,
he, at one point,
played against Henry Bibby,

259
00:15:19,744 --> 00:15:23,705
you know, when he was
still in high school
and lit him up.

260
00:15:23,748 --> 00:15:27,013
We would go to 109th street gym
every day in the morning,

261
00:15:27,056 --> 00:15:29,972
and leave there
and go to Inglewood's park.

262
00:15:30,016 --> 00:15:32,583
And then, I'd get to play
against Raymond Lewis

263
00:15:32,627 --> 00:15:36,065
to try to say,
"This is gonna be my day.
I'm gonna beat him."

264
00:15:36,109 --> 00:15:37,806
You're not gonna
beat him one-on-one.

265
00:15:37,849 --> 00:15:39,503
It's not... didn't happen.

266
00:15:39,547 --> 00:15:42,767
I just like
to do what I have to do
out here to win.

267
00:15:42,811 --> 00:15:46,467
I mean, you know,
that's the main thing
out here to do is win.

268
00:15:46,510 --> 00:15:49,905
Not only was he good,
he made people better,
around him better.

269
00:15:49,949 --> 00:15:52,255
So, then, therefore, he was
blowing everybody out.

270
00:15:52,299 --> 00:15:55,606
They had to continue
to raise Verbum Dei
up to the next level.

271
00:15:55,650 --> 00:15:58,348
Before Raymond left,
they was competing
with all the big boys.

272
00:15:59,741 --> 00:16:00,872
This is Lewis.

273
00:16:02,918 --> 00:16:04,528
We expected to win.

274
00:16:06,966 --> 00:16:09,229
Raymond Lewis
trying to put a move on.

275
00:16:09,272 --> 00:16:13,059
No question,
Raymond was the premier player.

276
00:16:13,102 --> 00:16:15,191
Not only at Verbum Dei,
but in the country.

277
00:16:16,323 --> 00:16:19,848
Averaging 30,
magical ball handling.

278
00:16:22,111 --> 00:16:25,810
People still today
talk about this game.

279
00:16:25,854 --> 00:16:28,291
Our whole focus was how
to shut down Raymond Lewis.

280
00:16:33,470 --> 00:16:36,038
Raymond always
looked ahead to
where he was going,

281
00:16:36,082 --> 00:16:38,432
not so much
as where he was
at right there.

282
00:16:38,475 --> 00:16:41,130
He looked ahead
to college and the pros.

283
00:16:45,308 --> 00:16:49,051
So it was a matter of
taking care of business
and winning championships

284
00:16:49,095 --> 00:16:52,794
so that everything would take
the proper steps to where
he wanted to go.

285
00:16:58,843 --> 00:17:01,411
In 1971, we played
against Crescenta Valley

286
00:17:01,455 --> 00:17:04,153
at the Los Angeles
Sports Arena.
That was a big game.

287
00:17:04,197 --> 00:17:07,243
They were ranked number two
in the state,
and we were ranked number one.

288
00:17:07,287 --> 00:17:10,072
Both programs
were undefeated.

289
00:17:10,116 --> 00:17:12,248
We were 29 and 0
going into that game.

290
00:17:12,292 --> 00:17:15,338
We thought we were focused
and was concentrating,

291
00:17:15,382 --> 00:17:17,688
but I think we were
somewhat in awe of them.

292
00:17:17,732 --> 00:17:20,213
I mean, we didn't talk
about it at the time.
But I think...

293
00:17:20,256 --> 00:17:23,129
we knew we'd come against
some pretty talented players.

294
00:17:23,172 --> 00:17:26,349
Raymond hit jumpers
all day long on the other side.

295
00:17:26,393 --> 00:17:30,266
Raymond was
MVP again, undisputed.

296
00:17:52,854 --> 00:17:55,465
You led
your high school
to three CIF titles.

297
00:17:55,509 --> 00:17:59,295
-How many schools
came after you?
-Uh, around 200.

298
00:18:03,430 --> 00:18:07,477
Started hearing about
colleges that were interested
in Raymond.

299
00:18:07,521 --> 00:18:12,047
I first met Raymond,
probably after the season
of his senior year.

300
00:18:12,091 --> 00:18:15,355
After the season.

301
00:18:15,398 --> 00:18:19,489
Bob Miller,
along with Jerry Tarkanian,
were recruiting us.

302
00:18:19,533 --> 00:18:23,232
They were both
after Raymond, primarily.

303
00:18:23,276 --> 00:18:26,235
Jerry Tarkanian
came down to Verbum Dei
quite a bit.

304
00:18:26,279 --> 00:18:29,456
Him and Bob Miller,
they were like a fixture there.

305
00:18:29,499 --> 00:18:31,762
I've seen him since
he's been in the 10th grade
in high school,

306
00:18:31,806 --> 00:18:34,243
and, as you know,
he was the CIF
player of the year

307
00:18:34,287 --> 00:18:36,158
for three years
in Southern California,

308
00:18:36,202 --> 00:18:39,944
which is as good basketball
as there is in the country
in high school.

309
00:18:39,988 --> 00:18:42,773
I knew him when
he was still in high school.

310
00:18:42,817 --> 00:18:45,385
The legends started
to magnify itself
that there was this kid.

311
00:18:45,428 --> 00:18:47,996
And I had just
gotten involved in basketball.

312
00:18:48,039 --> 00:18:50,694
I had an all-American game
that I had started

313
00:18:50,738 --> 00:18:52,870
somewhere on
the West Coast in that year.

314
00:18:52,914 --> 00:18:55,177
You know, Tarkanian,
who was building a powerhouse

315
00:18:55,221 --> 00:18:58,354
at Long Beach State,
was recruiting this phenom.

316
00:19:35,957 --> 00:19:41,354
Raymond had
a '70 or '71 GTX,

317
00:19:41,397 --> 00:19:43,443
sort of a muscle car.

318
00:19:45,009 --> 00:19:49,884
And Bob Miller and Cal State
had put headers in the engine.

319
00:19:52,147 --> 00:19:55,977
Tarkanian and Long Beach State
put racing slicks,

320
00:19:56,020 --> 00:20:00,590
and Cragar wheels
on the same car.

321
00:20:00,634 --> 00:20:02,636
That's how heavy
the recruiting was.

322
00:20:04,159 --> 00:20:06,596
I had told Raymond

323
00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:10,513
I wanted him to
got to UCLA or Notre Dame.

324
00:20:10,557 --> 00:20:13,603
That's what I thought for him.
He ends up...

325
00:20:13,647 --> 00:20:16,737
When I look in the paper,
he done signed with
Long Beach State.

326
00:20:18,739 --> 00:20:21,394
I said, "Long Beach State?"

327
00:20:21,437 --> 00:20:24,788
That was before
Bob Miller dropped
a Corvette on the scene.

328
00:20:26,268 --> 00:20:29,880
Brand new.
It was spanking brand new,
red...

329
00:20:29,924 --> 00:20:33,493
Let me tell you,
that car had to cost
big time bucks.

330
00:20:33,536 --> 00:20:36,409
He actually ended up
with a car? Yeah. I don't know.

331
00:20:36,452 --> 00:20:39,934
To this day, I know where
the car came from,

332
00:20:39,977 --> 00:20:41,936
but how the car got there,
I don't know.

333
00:20:43,416 --> 00:20:46,767
It was a Corvette
and he drove it around.

334
00:20:46,810 --> 00:20:51,293
He drove it down to Long Beach
and drove right by
the Long Beach people,

335
00:20:51,337 --> 00:20:53,208
showing 'em his new car.

336
00:20:56,211 --> 00:21:01,651
He betrayed Mr. Tarkanian
and went to LA State.

337
00:21:01,695 --> 00:21:06,308
Raymond liked the Corvette
better than he liked the GTX.

338
00:21:06,352 --> 00:21:08,702
I mean, the rumors
is all through the gym

339
00:21:08,745 --> 00:21:11,400
that Raymond Lewis
got $100,000 cash,

340
00:21:11,444 --> 00:21:15,056
Raymond Lewis got a...
he got signed by Nike.

341
00:21:15,099 --> 00:21:18,277
And then he got a Corvette
and I hadn't...

342
00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:21,497
This was just rumors
until he pulled up
at the park

343
00:21:21,541 --> 00:21:24,021
for the summer league game
against us in the Corvette.

344
00:21:26,110 --> 00:21:29,200
I guess it confuses
a lot of people that...

345
00:21:29,244 --> 00:21:32,160
a pure shooter like yourself,
a great ballplayer came
to Cal State, LA.

346
00:21:32,203 --> 00:21:33,857
Why don't you explain to us
why you did?

347
00:21:33,901 --> 00:21:35,903
-Why I came to Cal State, LA?
-Why you came to Cal State, LA.

348
00:21:35,946 --> 00:21:39,341
Well, mainly because
of Caldwell Black. He was
my junior high school coach,

349
00:21:39,385 --> 00:21:43,084
and, like, he told me that
he was going out to head
a coaching job over here.

350
00:21:43,127 --> 00:21:47,349
And like, he didn't get it.
He went to Cal Poly, Pomona.

351
00:21:47,393 --> 00:21:49,351
But, like, I was going
to follow him over there.

352
00:21:49,395 --> 00:21:52,311
But, you know,
I just like it here
a little better.

353
00:21:55,226 --> 00:21:58,186
I got a phone call
from Raymond Lewis,

354
00:21:58,229 --> 00:22:01,798
and he wanted to come
because he wanted
to try out for the ABA.

355
00:22:04,192 --> 00:22:08,239
I think I had just helped
some kids get ABA contracts,

356
00:22:08,283 --> 00:22:12,026
one being Mickey Davis, who
went to the Pittsburgh Condors
out of Duquesne University,

357
00:22:12,069 --> 00:22:14,855
the other being
the great George Gervin.

358
00:22:17,292 --> 00:22:20,861
Right after he got
let loose, you know,
Eastern Michigan.

359
00:22:20,904 --> 00:22:22,602
And I had known Raymond

360
00:22:22,645 --> 00:22:25,953
through that
little period of time
in high school recruiting.

361
00:22:27,389 --> 00:22:28,912
I bought him
an airplane ticket.

362
00:22:28,956 --> 00:22:31,393
I brought him to Pittsburgh
and I arranged for a workout

363
00:22:31,437 --> 00:22:33,787
with Lou Carnesecca
and the Long Island Nets,

364
00:22:33,830 --> 00:22:35,745
I think they were called,
in the ABA.

365
00:22:38,269 --> 00:22:39,836
And we went
to Pitt Field House,

366
00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:41,882
and a friend of mine,
Tim Grgurich, was there,

367
00:22:41,925 --> 00:22:44,972
and he arranged for
the Pitt players to play
against Raymond Lewis.

368
00:22:45,015 --> 00:22:47,627
And there was Louie
and Johnny Cress, his assistant

369
00:22:47,670 --> 00:22:49,455
sitting in the stands,
watching him.

370
00:22:49,498 --> 00:22:51,587
And he was unbelievable.

371
00:22:53,415 --> 00:22:55,591
Because Raymond told me
that I could have went

372
00:22:55,635 --> 00:22:58,638
straight from high school
to the ABA out of high school.

373
00:22:58,681 --> 00:23:01,989
And the team that was
interested in him was
the Pittsburgh Pipers.

374
00:23:02,032 --> 00:23:05,775
But he said, I don't want
to play for Pittsburgh because
they were a losing team.

375
00:23:05,819 --> 00:23:08,474
And he... Plus, he says,
"Man, LA State, man,
gave me a better package deal."

376
00:23:17,178 --> 00:23:20,137
Raymond told me,
he said, "Baby George..."
He used to call me Baby George.

377
00:23:20,181 --> 00:23:22,226
He said, "Baby George,
it's NBA or nothing."

378
00:23:22,270 --> 00:23:27,188
When he left,
they borrowed $300
from my brother,

379
00:23:27,231 --> 00:23:30,060
put a note on the refrigerator

380
00:23:30,104 --> 00:23:32,976
that said,
"Thanks for everything, Sonny.

381
00:23:33,020 --> 00:23:34,935
"We're going back
to LA. I'll call you."

382
00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:46,337
The year I became
the head coach,

383
00:23:46,381 --> 00:23:48,470
Raymond's senior year
in high school,

384
00:23:48,514 --> 00:23:50,080
we were division two.

385
00:23:50,124 --> 00:23:52,431
The year I took over,
we became division one.

386
00:23:52,474 --> 00:23:54,302
I knew he wasn't
going to stay in school,

387
00:23:54,345 --> 00:23:57,261
but it was worth the chance
to have Raymond play with us

388
00:23:57,305 --> 00:23:59,307
with the potential
of what he could bring us

389
00:23:59,350 --> 00:24:00,961
and what he could
bring the program

390
00:24:01,004 --> 00:24:04,138
for the future
and the excitement
that he would bring.

391
00:24:04,181 --> 00:24:08,534
to the faculty,
and the students,
and the alumni of LA State.

392
00:24:13,539 --> 00:24:16,498
It all started
in 1969, when Bob Miller

393
00:24:16,542 --> 00:24:18,413
was appointed
head basketball coach,

394
00:24:18,457 --> 00:24:21,198
donated $9,000
of his own money

395
00:24:21,242 --> 00:24:23,853
to the school's Tourney
Athletic Scholarship Fund.

396
00:24:23,897 --> 00:24:26,639
It was here at Verbum Dei
High School in Watts

397
00:24:26,682 --> 00:24:29,250
that Miller successfully
recruited Raymond Lewis,

398
00:24:29,293 --> 00:24:33,733
gloriously gifted player,
along with Adrian Chivers,
and Thomas Moore.

399
00:24:33,776 --> 00:24:37,258
The next year,
he snared Dwight Slaughter,

400
00:24:37,301 --> 00:24:41,218
one of the nation's
most coveted prep stars.

401
00:24:41,262 --> 00:24:45,179
We said If you come in,
we'll bring some of
your friends in with you.

402
00:24:45,222 --> 00:24:47,921
I mean, I like it over here.

403
00:24:47,964 --> 00:24:52,621
Like I said, it's all right.
I mean, you know, I got
my friends over here, you know.

404
00:24:52,665 --> 00:24:57,800
Like Adrian Chivers,
he went to the same high school
I went to, and Thomas Moore.

405
00:24:57,844 --> 00:24:59,672
I end up going
to Cal State, Los Angeles

406
00:24:59,715 --> 00:25:04,285
because my coach,
which was Raymond Lewis,
told me to come.

407
00:25:04,328 --> 00:25:07,288
I was there.
Randy was there.

408
00:25:07,331 --> 00:25:09,899
Thomas Moore was there.
Chivers was there.

409
00:25:09,943 --> 00:25:12,598
And it was like
an insane asylum at LA State.

410
00:25:12,641 --> 00:25:14,556
I mean, you're talking
about crooked activity.

411
00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:16,602
Everything was crooked
at Los Angeles State.

412
00:25:21,215 --> 00:25:23,130
What did Coach Miller
tell you to do?

413
00:25:23,173 --> 00:25:26,046
Well, basically,
he says, we didn't have
to go to school.

414
00:25:26,089 --> 00:25:30,529
Just enroll in these classes,
these dummy classes or whatever.

415
00:25:30,572 --> 00:25:34,271
and not attend.
You know, the teachers
will take care of it for us.

416
00:25:35,969 --> 00:25:38,319
Just stay healthy enough
to play basketball.

417
00:25:41,496 --> 00:25:45,500
All they wanted was
a bunch of black guys
that can jump and run.

418
00:25:45,544 --> 00:25:49,156
And they were
not trying to educate you,
not one bit.

419
00:25:49,199 --> 00:25:52,202
Didn't have to go to school.
I was on the Dean's list.

420
00:25:52,246 --> 00:25:54,944
I said this school
is simply out of control.

421
00:25:54,988 --> 00:25:59,296
They had no guidelines,
no rules, no regulations.

422
00:25:59,340 --> 00:26:03,126
There was
a regular amount of money that
Raymond was getting every month

423
00:26:03,170 --> 00:26:06,129
to be at the school
and it was passed through me.

424
00:26:07,348 --> 00:26:10,394
Walk to the car, look in,
and say, "Okay."

425
00:26:10,438 --> 00:26:13,049
I mean, it wasn't
a big deal to a guy, you know,

426
00:26:13,093 --> 00:26:15,617
he's gonna have
millions one day, right? So...

427
00:26:15,661 --> 00:26:18,141
That was a widespread practice,

428
00:26:18,185 --> 00:26:21,449
and I never really
blamed the athlete

429
00:26:21,492 --> 00:26:24,626
because,
for the most part, that is all

430
00:26:24,670 --> 00:26:26,628
that most of them
got out of it.

431
00:26:26,672 --> 00:26:29,892
Ninety nine percent of them
never got a degree,

432
00:26:29,936 --> 00:26:32,895
never got a pro contract
and ended up right back

433
00:26:32,939 --> 00:26:34,723
in the communities
that they came out of.

434
00:26:36,595 --> 00:26:39,859
Raymond
was put in a room
right next door to me.

435
00:26:39,902 --> 00:26:44,124
I was a resident assistant at,
I think it was called,
Marianna Village Apartments.

436
00:26:44,167 --> 00:26:48,607
He arrived
and it was 24/7 party.

437
00:26:48,650 --> 00:26:50,652
I mean, it was round the clock.

438
00:26:50,696 --> 00:26:54,525
We partied too hard.
We had fun too much.

439
00:26:54,569 --> 00:26:56,789
We just boisterous,
loud, crazy.

440
00:26:56,832 --> 00:26:59,226
We were young,
coming from the Inner City.

441
00:26:59,269 --> 00:27:03,317
He didn't have
to ride on the bus with
the rest of the team.

442
00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:06,276
He would drive his 'vette
to the game,

443
00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:08,539
and he parked it
wherever he wanted.

444
00:27:08,583 --> 00:27:10,541
He had so many parking tickets
you wouldn't believe.

445
00:27:10,585 --> 00:27:14,197
I bet you he had
50 parking tickets a month.

446
00:27:14,241 --> 00:27:16,243
He didn't care.
Somebody was paying him.

447
00:27:16,286 --> 00:27:18,549
No, you could tell
he was special.

448
00:27:18,593 --> 00:27:21,552
His experience
at Cal State, Los Angeles,

449
00:27:21,596 --> 00:27:24,686
in my opinion,
was largely responsible

450
00:27:24,730 --> 00:27:28,429
for the tragedy
that became
the Raymond Lewis story.

451
00:27:30,213 --> 00:27:33,564
He wasn't a student.
Raymond didn't care
about going to school.

452
00:27:33,608 --> 00:27:37,220
He was never
gonna get his degree.

453
00:27:37,264 --> 00:27:40,615
He said outright,
"I don't think
I'll go back to school.

454
00:27:40,659 --> 00:27:43,444
"I'll be here
as short as I can
and and try to sign."

455
00:27:43,487 --> 00:27:45,272
And that was one
of the reasons we said,

456
00:27:45,315 --> 00:27:48,884
"If you come to LA State,
we'll push you as our
number one pro,

457
00:27:48,928 --> 00:27:52,583
"and see to get you in the pro
as soon as you can."

458
00:27:52,627 --> 00:27:53,976
So, we went out
and played ball.

459
00:27:59,721 --> 00:28:02,855
How about,
in the publicity town
of Los Angeles,

460
00:28:02,898 --> 00:28:05,988
you're competing
against a legend in UCLA.

461
00:28:06,032 --> 00:28:08,730
Do you find yourself
getting as much attention
as you think you deserve?

462
00:28:08,774 --> 00:28:10,863
Yeah. Yes, I do.

463
00:28:10,906 --> 00:28:13,082
I mean, I don't like
a lot of publicity anyway.

464
00:28:15,737 --> 00:28:17,086
It's sort of incredible.

465
00:28:17,130 --> 00:28:19,436
But in a town that plays home
to such powers

466
00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:21,351
as UCLA and USC,

467
00:28:21,395 --> 00:28:24,398
nineteen-year-old
Raymond Lewis just might
be the most exciting player

468
00:28:24,441 --> 00:28:26,966
on the Los Angeles City
basketball court.

469
00:28:27,009 --> 00:28:29,969
So, what happens?
We go to Cal State, LA
and play freshman ball.

470
00:28:30,012 --> 00:28:32,754
Raymond leads the nation
in scoring again.

471
00:28:32,798 --> 00:28:36,410
We had people on campus
that were coming to
freshmen games,

472
00:28:36,453 --> 00:28:40,414
uh, that had never come
to our varsity games
prior to that.

473
00:28:40,457 --> 00:28:44,157
All I did was just
throw out the ball and
sit back and watch the show.

474
00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:46,463
You know, I was smart enough
to figure that out.

475
00:28:46,507 --> 00:28:48,596
The danger
among most great shooters,
I guess,

476
00:28:48,639 --> 00:28:50,293
is that they're
selfish ballplayers.

477
00:28:50,337 --> 00:28:51,730
They put it up
every opportunity.

478
00:28:51,773 --> 00:28:54,123
-Have you
come across that charge?
-No, I don't.

479
00:28:54,167 --> 00:28:57,866
I mean, like, I pass off
quite a bit, you know.

480
00:28:57,910 --> 00:29:01,870
At least I try to.
I mean, like, this team,
they want me to shoot.

481
00:29:01,914 --> 00:29:03,567
You know, every time I get it,
they want me to shoot.

482
00:29:03,611 --> 00:29:06,527
So, you know, I just do
what everybody else
wants me to do.

483
00:29:09,356 --> 00:29:11,532
He beat everything.

484
00:29:11,575 --> 00:29:16,406
We're playing, I think,
Trgovich, Meyers, and that
group from UCLA one year.

485
00:29:16,450 --> 00:29:18,669
He just takes over the game.

486
00:29:26,025 --> 00:29:29,376
How about
the team's offense? How
would you characterize that?

487
00:29:29,419 --> 00:29:33,162
Uh, it's just, like, when I
come down, you know,

488
00:29:33,206 --> 00:29:36,122
they move out to the side
and I just take my man.

489
00:29:36,165 --> 00:29:39,647
I don't remember
if anybody's mentioned

490
00:29:39,690 --> 00:29:42,868
the 73 points that
he got against Santa Barbara.

491
00:29:42,911 --> 00:29:46,436
Saw a game when he scored 73.
I went to that game.

492
00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:48,656
Santa Barbara was
the last game of the year,

493
00:29:48,699 --> 00:29:50,701
and prior to the game,
I told Raymond,

494
00:29:50,745 --> 00:29:52,573
I said, "If you
score 70 points,

495
00:29:52,616 --> 00:29:55,097
you're going to wind up
averaging 40 for the season.

496
00:29:55,141 --> 00:29:58,231
Well, Raymond
kind of shrugged it off.
"All right."

497
00:30:00,102 --> 00:30:03,279
It's kind of like a storybook.
The game's about ready
to start,

498
00:30:03,323 --> 00:30:05,891
and LA State has four players
on the floor.

499
00:30:05,934 --> 00:30:08,067
And Ray comes
around the corner

500
00:30:08,110 --> 00:30:09,982
and he has
his tennis shoes under his arm.

501
00:30:10,025 --> 00:30:13,028
And he was famous for

502
00:30:13,072 --> 00:30:16,597
just walking into a gym
without any warm up,

503
00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:20,688
and he would change shoes,
and then, he would just
jump into the game.

504
00:30:20,731 --> 00:30:22,516
And he sits on
one end of the court,

505
00:30:22,559 --> 00:30:23,734
and they actually
threw the ball up

506
00:30:23,778 --> 00:30:25,998
because they had
five people on the floor.

507
00:30:26,041 --> 00:30:28,130
Jump ball.
They get the ball.

508
00:30:28,174 --> 00:30:30,393
Raymond ties... He ties
his shoes, gets the ball,

509
00:30:30,437 --> 00:30:33,048
dribbles down, and shoots
from 30 and makes it.

510
00:30:35,094 --> 00:30:38,053
At that point, I knew we were
in for a very, very long night.

511
00:30:38,097 --> 00:30:41,274
He had 40 shots, 30 for 40.

512
00:30:41,317 --> 00:30:43,015
I know his hand
had to get tired.

513
00:30:43,058 --> 00:30:45,844
But he just
kept shooting 'em, man.
He just kept shooting 'em.

514
00:30:59,596 --> 00:31:03,383
At that time, Cal State
was the place to be
on game night.

515
00:31:03,426 --> 00:31:06,865
And it was crazy,
and Raymond did not disappoint.

516
00:31:08,997 --> 00:31:14,133
Everywhere we went,
they had some little scheme...

517
00:31:15,351 --> 00:31:17,440
to cut him down and stop him,

518
00:31:17,484 --> 00:31:20,356
and he still led the nation
in scoring the whole year.

519
00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:22,924
You're only
a sophomore but you're
leading the nation in scoring.

520
00:31:22,968 --> 00:31:24,839
Have you surprised yourself
a little bit?

521
00:31:24,883 --> 00:31:27,537
A little bit.
Just a little bit, you know.

522
00:31:27,581 --> 00:31:30,540
"Cause, like,
I averaged 39 last year,
I felt...

523
00:31:30,584 --> 00:31:33,892
The competition was greater
than it was last year.

524
00:31:35,981 --> 00:31:37,983
We come
into town, it was like,

525
00:31:38,026 --> 00:31:41,116
okay, South Cal State, LA,
that's here,

526
00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:43,510
it's, "Raymond Lewis
is coming to town."

527
00:31:43,553 --> 00:31:47,079
Everybody wants to come out
and see the best scorer
in the nation.

528
00:31:50,604 --> 00:31:52,954
The first time
I saw Raymond Lewis play

529
00:31:52,998 --> 00:31:55,826
was at
Northern Illinois University.

530
00:31:55,870 --> 00:31:59,656
I was the general manager
of the Chicago Bulls
at the time.

531
00:31:59,700 --> 00:32:02,833
We had heard a lot
about this Raymond Lewis guy.

532
00:32:02,877 --> 00:32:05,836
And, sure enough,
they came into
the Midwest to play.

533
00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:11,320
I remember driving out
to DeKalb, and we saw
the great Raymond Lewis.

534
00:32:11,364 --> 00:32:15,803
And he was memorable
that night. He put on
an offensive show.

535
00:32:15,846 --> 00:32:18,588
He never met a shot
he didn't like.

536
00:32:20,808 --> 00:32:22,636
He never met
a shot he didn't take.

537
00:32:22,679 --> 00:32:26,988
I did see "The Bird" Everett
and Raymond Lewis play

538
00:32:27,032 --> 00:32:29,382
at Cal State LA.
I was at that game.

539
00:32:31,819 --> 00:32:33,516
We had
the sports arena packed.

540
00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:36,389
We had more people
in the sports arena than
they had seen, ever.

541
00:32:36,432 --> 00:32:39,044
It was an absolute shootout.

542
00:32:39,087 --> 00:32:41,002
Raymond had every move.

543
00:32:41,046 --> 00:32:45,659
Every shot that
I've ever seen today,
he had in those days already.

544
00:32:52,057 --> 00:32:55,408
Who would you say
is the best club you guys
will face this year?

545
00:32:55,451 --> 00:32:58,150
Uh, probably Long Beach.
It would have to be.

546
00:33:20,128 --> 00:33:22,783
I can remember...
I can remember the anticipation

547
00:33:22,826 --> 00:33:26,830
of the Cal State,
you know, game
with Long Beach.

548
00:33:26,874 --> 00:33:28,919
The town was talking
about it, you know?

549
00:33:28,963 --> 00:33:31,183
And it was really
Raymond against Tarkanian.

550
00:33:31,226 --> 00:33:33,968
Really, Raymond.
It wasn't tell Cal State, LA.

551
00:33:34,012 --> 00:33:36,014
It was... It was Raymond Lewis.

552
00:33:36,057 --> 00:33:38,320
Let's put everything
in this picture.

553
00:33:44,718 --> 00:33:47,764
They tell you about
Long Beach State game?

554
00:33:47,808 --> 00:33:50,332
Yeah, well, lucky for me,
I got a good view of the game.

555
00:33:50,376 --> 00:33:52,334
I was sitting
right on the bench,
right up close.

556
00:33:52,378 --> 00:33:55,163
They were
hanging on the staircases,
on all four staircases,

557
00:33:55,207 --> 00:33:59,733
standing on every step,
four deep to fill up the gym.

558
00:33:59,776 --> 00:34:01,952
I mean, this gym
was an old gym.

559
00:34:01,996 --> 00:34:04,172
3,000 seats, I guess.
I have no idea.

560
00:34:04,216 --> 00:34:07,132
But I know
it was very cramped,
hot as hell.

561
00:34:07,175 --> 00:34:12,137
And Tark had, you know,
Poindexter and Ratleff.

562
00:34:12,180 --> 00:34:14,139
I mean, damn,
these guys were great.

563
00:34:14,182 --> 00:34:18,099
I really thought
that Tarkanian would stop him.

564
00:34:18,143 --> 00:34:21,320
You know
David versus Goliath, you know,

565
00:34:21,363 --> 00:34:23,148
and it was
Raymond versus Goliath.

566
00:34:23,191 --> 00:34:25,411
And, you know,
we know how that story ended.

567
00:34:25,454 --> 00:34:27,282
Well, I mean,
the game was close.

568
00:34:27,326 --> 00:34:29,110
It was going back and forth
with nip and tuck.

569
00:34:29,154 --> 00:34:32,026
And Raymond was doing
what Raymond do.

570
00:34:32,070 --> 00:34:34,376
He was coming down
with his rise and repeat.

571
00:34:34,420 --> 00:34:39,816
He had one
of his ballistic games.

572
00:34:39,860 --> 00:34:42,689
I mean, one that
everybody talks about.

573
00:34:42,732 --> 00:34:46,040
He was just,
I don't know, unconscious.

574
00:34:46,084 --> 00:34:47,955
It went back and forth.

575
00:34:47,998 --> 00:34:49,739
It was one of those games
that the announcer

576
00:34:49,783 --> 00:34:53,395
was standing
on top of the table,
going crazy.

577
00:34:53,439 --> 00:34:56,006
All of a sudden,
the game was coming
down to the line.

578
00:34:56,050 --> 00:34:59,053
And who you want
to put the ball in their hand?
You want Ray Lou.

579
00:34:59,097 --> 00:35:01,360
Lou was deep in his zone.

580
00:35:01,403 --> 00:35:03,666
Only shot available
was in the corner.

581
00:35:03,710 --> 00:35:08,454
He was falling out of bounds
at the corner.

582
00:35:08,497 --> 00:35:12,153
-And he just rolls up...
-Falling away and shot.

583
00:35:12,197 --> 00:35:16,157
...hit that shot.
Just then, I kind of lost him
'cause he fell into the stands.

584
00:35:20,292 --> 00:35:22,294
The game
against Tarkanian was one of

585
00:35:22,337 --> 00:35:24,774
the greatest games
I've ever seen in my life.

586
00:35:24,818 --> 00:35:29,344
As time has taken me
through my life, I've seen
a lot of those games.

587
00:35:29,388 --> 00:35:32,739
But that night on that floor,
Raymond Lewis was as good

588
00:35:32,782 --> 00:35:34,784
as any basketball player
that ever played

589
00:35:34,828 --> 00:35:37,526
for who he was playing for
and who he's playing against.

590
00:35:49,538 --> 00:35:51,845
Everybody knew
Raymond was a sure shot.

591
00:35:51,888 --> 00:35:54,064
I mean, everybody knew Raymond
was going to get drafted.

592
00:35:54,108 --> 00:35:56,023
He was going to be
an NBA player.

593
00:35:56,066 --> 00:35:58,765
He knew, and we knew
he was going pro

594
00:35:58,808 --> 00:36:01,594
because there
was serious talk about it.

595
00:36:02,638 --> 00:36:05,467
He had all kind of agents.

596
00:36:05,511 --> 00:36:09,602
I mean, we...
Man, them dudes
was calling the phone all night,

597
00:36:09,645 --> 00:36:12,866
waking us up,
trying to get to
Raymond on the phone.

598
00:36:12,909 --> 00:36:15,564
But every time Raymond
signed with somebody,

599
00:36:15,608 --> 00:36:20,265
other agents were
coming in,
and giving him things,

600
00:36:20,308 --> 00:36:23,790
and offering him,
promising him, saying things

601
00:36:23,833 --> 00:36:26,401
that if you go with me,
we can do this for you.

602
00:36:26,445 --> 00:36:28,273
We can get this
done better for you.

603
00:36:28,316 --> 00:36:30,013
Raymond would drive home,
and he'd come, we went,

604
00:36:30,057 --> 00:36:31,276
"What you're
doing in that Cadillac?"

605
00:36:31,319 --> 00:36:34,975
He had a brand new
white-on-white Cadillac.

606
00:36:35,018 --> 00:36:39,022
Then he drives in
with a De Tomaso Pantera.

607
00:36:39,066 --> 00:36:41,503
Then, he says, "Adrian,
why don't you drive this car?

608
00:36:41,547 --> 00:36:44,114
"And, Michael,
you drive that one.
so I could drive this."

609
00:36:44,158 --> 00:36:47,466
Raymond, come on, man.
What I'm going to do
with a Cadillac?

610
00:36:47,509 --> 00:36:51,861
But I did drive
the man a little bit,
you know what I mean?

611
00:36:51,905 --> 00:36:56,779
With a guy
like Raymond's mind,
with those kinds of skills,

612
00:36:56,823 --> 00:36:58,868
with the money
that was passing around,

613
00:36:58,912 --> 00:37:01,654
basketball is about the money.

614
00:37:01,697 --> 00:37:05,832
That's a particular mindset
that you develop under
those circumstances.

615
00:37:05,875 --> 00:37:09,227
Basketball is about the money.
If it's about the money
in college,

616
00:37:09,270 --> 00:37:12,360
then how much more
about the money can it be
at the pro level?

617
00:37:27,462 --> 00:37:30,422
Philadelphia's had a tradition
of great basketball.

618
00:37:30,465 --> 00:37:33,163
It was one of
the founding cities of the NBA.

619
00:37:33,207 --> 00:37:36,471
Then Philadelphia
basketball fortunes
went from top to bottom.

620
00:37:36,515 --> 00:37:42,347
1971-72 was the lowest ebb
of any team in the history
of the NBA.

621
00:37:42,390 --> 00:37:45,393
The Sixers
won just nine games.

622
00:37:45,437 --> 00:37:48,135
But the 76ers
management decided to fight.

623
00:37:48,178 --> 00:37:50,833
They hired Gene Shue,
a coach with a history

624
00:37:50,877 --> 00:37:53,314
of turning weak teams
into contenders.

625
00:37:53,358 --> 00:37:57,013
Do you realize, man,
I'm in about the same position
that you are,

626
00:37:57,057 --> 00:38:00,669
in that I'm kind of starting out
in a rookie position

627
00:38:00,713 --> 00:38:03,281
with this club,
the same as you people.

628
00:38:03,324 --> 00:38:07,197
Honestly, I didn't know
a whole lot about
Raymond Lewis.

629
00:38:07,241 --> 00:38:11,071
You know, maybe
I heard that he was...

630
00:38:11,114 --> 00:38:15,771
you know, a fantastic player,
you know, in the LA area.

631
00:38:15,815 --> 00:38:18,470
You know, really
a great high school player.

632
00:38:18,513 --> 00:38:20,472
But other than that,
I didn't know anything...

633
00:38:21,821 --> 00:38:26,173
about background
or really how good he was.

634
00:38:26,216 --> 00:38:30,917
When Raymond got drafted,
we were all very excited about

635
00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:34,964
you know,
having our cousin, uh,
drafted in the first round,

636
00:38:35,008 --> 00:38:37,053
something that he had
worked for all his life.

637
00:38:38,925 --> 00:38:40,753
The draft takes place.

638
00:38:40,796 --> 00:38:43,103
Philadelphia had an extra pick.

639
00:38:43,146 --> 00:38:47,107
That year, they took
Doug Collins with
the first pick

640
00:38:47,150 --> 00:38:52,373
and then, late first round,
they took Raymond Lewis.

641
00:38:52,417 --> 00:38:56,290
He's
consensus all-American
and Olympic star, Doug Collins.

642
00:38:56,334 --> 00:38:58,597
I think a lot of folks
knew who Doug was.

643
00:38:58,640 --> 00:39:01,295
One, he was the number one
draft choice that year,

644
00:39:01,339 --> 00:39:03,428
But he was also
the fellow that was shooting

645
00:39:03,471 --> 00:39:06,387
the free throws
at the end of the ballgame
in the '72 Olympics.

646
00:39:06,431 --> 00:39:11,305
That Olympic footage
really made Doug
a national star.

647
00:39:11,349 --> 00:39:14,830
And so, I think
that gave him some notoriety,
If you will.

648
00:39:18,007 --> 00:39:21,402
I knew his agent well,
Herb Rudoy in Chicago,

649
00:39:21,446 --> 00:39:26,755
and he negotiates
a very strong deal for Doug.

650
00:39:26,799 --> 00:39:30,324
as what you would expect
for the first pick in the draft.

651
00:39:32,326 --> 00:39:35,416
Doug was making,
the way I understood it,

652
00:39:35,460 --> 00:39:37,766
about 250 a year
for four years,

653
00:39:37,810 --> 00:39:41,727
which was going to be
a million dollar,
a million-dollar contract.

654
00:39:41,770 --> 00:39:46,253
Raymond,
coming in at
the late first round

655
00:39:46,296 --> 00:39:50,170
gets a deal commensurate
with where he was drafted.

656
00:39:56,481 --> 00:39:58,526
So, Raymond thought
he had a legit contract.

657
00:39:58,570 --> 00:40:00,441
A good contract. He was happy.

658
00:40:00,485 --> 00:40:02,965
You know, think about it.
Him a kid from South Central

659
00:40:03,009 --> 00:40:05,446
finally gets his dream...

660
00:40:05,490 --> 00:40:10,364
to go to NBA,
got a contract, got drafted.

661
00:40:10,408 --> 00:40:14,499
You know, you hear
these numbers, numbers
that sound like great numbers.

662
00:40:15,151 --> 00:40:16,239
So, he signed.

663
00:40:19,982 --> 00:40:24,683
From what I understand, he went
and negotiated a contract
by himself,

664
00:40:24,726 --> 00:40:26,685
and he signed a bad deal.

665
00:40:26,728 --> 00:40:31,690
Numbers of agents
stepped up and said, "I'm
representing Raymond Lewis."

666
00:40:31,733 --> 00:40:36,172
"I'm representing
Raymond Lewis." "No, I'm
representing Raymond Lewis."

667
00:40:36,216 --> 00:40:39,524
And then,
apparently, he ended up
representing himself.

668
00:40:43,136 --> 00:40:45,834
My cousin was
a stubborn individual.

669
00:40:45,878 --> 00:40:49,751
And so, the trust factor
came into play,

670
00:40:49,795 --> 00:40:55,540
and that's why he proceeded
to go to Philadelphia
without representation.

671
00:41:07,639 --> 00:41:12,818
Contract was handled
strictly by Don DeJardin,
the general manager.

672
00:41:14,428 --> 00:41:17,779
Immediately, there were
problems with the contract.

673
00:41:17,823 --> 00:41:21,304
From what I understand,
it was only
a one-year-guarantee,

674
00:41:21,348 --> 00:41:24,220
and most of it all
was deferred, like 25 years.

675
00:41:24,264 --> 00:41:27,485
I mean, it was
a garbage contract.

676
00:41:27,528 --> 00:41:31,706
Raymond was supposed
to be getting, like, 45
his rookie year,

677
00:41:31,750 --> 00:41:35,797
and the next year, 65.
But only one year
was guaranteed,

678
00:41:35,841 --> 00:41:38,974
whereas Doug Collins
was four years guaranteed.

679
00:41:43,762 --> 00:41:45,764
It was garbage,
and Gene Shue knew it,

680
00:41:45,807 --> 00:41:47,417
and all
the other people knew it.

681
00:41:47,461 --> 00:41:49,724
And I guarantee you,
when they left
at the signing room,

682
00:41:49,768 --> 00:41:51,509
they probably went back there
in their room

683
00:41:51,552 --> 00:41:53,293
and got 'em a cigar
and started laughing.

684
00:41:54,903 --> 00:41:56,862
But when I get there,

685
00:41:56,905 --> 00:42:00,648
you're talking now,
45, 50 thousand dollars

686
00:42:00,692 --> 00:42:04,347
for one year, and then,
the second year,
I have to make the team.

687
00:42:04,391 --> 00:42:08,656
You tell me
that that's fair
to leave school for...

688
00:42:08,700 --> 00:42:10,789
when I'm getting
that much money...

689
00:42:10,832 --> 00:42:13,835
Well, I shouldn't say that.
but I'm
getting basically...

690
00:42:13,879 --> 00:42:17,491
I'm getting basically
that much money when
I was at Cal State, Los Angeles.

691
00:42:17,535 --> 00:42:22,714
In his mind...
In his mind, he felt that
he was better than Doug Collins.

692
00:42:22,757 --> 00:42:25,064
it was a lot different
in those days.

693
00:42:25,107 --> 00:42:29,372
He wasn't going
to make near the money
as Doug Collins was.

694
00:42:29,416 --> 00:42:36,249
And it seemed like
there was some
professional jealousy there.

695
00:42:36,292 --> 00:42:39,295
They took
advantage of him. They
knew what they was doing.

696
00:42:39,339 --> 00:42:41,167
They knew that
those numbers was garbage.

697
00:42:41,210 --> 00:42:43,517
They could pretend
like they want.

698
00:42:43,561 --> 00:42:46,781
If they thought
he wasn't good enough,
why did they sign him?

699
00:42:46,825 --> 00:42:48,566
They knew what they had.

700
00:42:48,609 --> 00:42:52,352
And Raymond,
without representation,
without an attorney,

701
00:42:52,395 --> 00:42:57,270
told the 76ers organization
that he was better
than Doug Collins.

702
00:42:57,313 --> 00:43:00,882
And if Doug Collins was
getting that, he should
be getting that, if not more.

703
00:43:02,362 --> 00:43:04,756
And they
basically said, prove it.

704
00:43:04,799 --> 00:43:07,846
Just prove it and
we'll tear your contract up.

705
00:43:07,889 --> 00:43:11,371
and then Raymond basically said,
that's all I need to hear.

706
00:43:16,115 --> 00:43:20,206
After he got drafted, he went to
Philly and I went with him.

707
00:43:23,209 --> 00:43:26,429
Summer at
Ursinus College near
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania,

708
00:43:26,473 --> 00:43:29,084
is normally very quiet.

709
00:43:29,128 --> 00:43:31,478
Then, late in June,
the tranquility is shattered

710
00:43:31,521 --> 00:43:34,786
as the Philadelphia 76ers
hold rookie camp here,

711
00:43:34,829 --> 00:43:38,093
-Where you guys from?
-Bradley University.

712
00:43:38,137 --> 00:43:40,530
Rookies,
free agents, semi pro players,

713
00:43:40,574 --> 00:43:44,186
each one dreaming of the money,
the fame and the prestige

714
00:43:44,230 --> 00:43:47,625
that comes with
being a star in the NBA.

715
00:43:47,668 --> 00:43:51,585
I think everybody knew that
going up there that the
Sixers, the prior year,

716
00:43:51,629 --> 00:43:56,546
I think that they were, what,
9-73, set all kinds of records.

717
00:43:56,590 --> 00:43:57,896
Not the kind you would want.

718
00:43:59,680 --> 00:44:02,117
they weren't afraid, being
the management of the Sixers,

719
00:44:02,161 --> 00:44:03,945
weren't afraid to clean house.

720
00:44:03,989 --> 00:44:05,599
They were looking for people
that could come in

721
00:44:05,643 --> 00:44:08,863
and hopefully, win more games
than nine games that season.

722
00:44:08,907 --> 00:44:11,823
Rodney Freeman,
a 6-foot-7-inch forward

723
00:44:11,866 --> 00:44:15,609
from Vanderbilt University,
was drafted on the 11th round.

724
00:44:15,653 --> 00:44:19,221
The odds against his making
the team are about 100-1.

725
00:44:19,265 --> 00:44:23,008
I don't think they cared
much about who you were,

726
00:44:23,051 --> 00:44:26,489
where you came from,
how you put your britches on.

727
00:44:26,533 --> 00:44:30,493
They just wanted somebody that
knew how to play ball, and
could take instruction.

728
00:44:30,537 --> 00:44:32,974
from the new coach that year,
which was Gene Shue.

729
00:44:33,018 --> 00:44:36,978
What I'm looking for
in a basketball player

730
00:44:37,022 --> 00:44:40,895
is something that
might surprise you.

731
00:44:43,724 --> 00:44:46,901
There have been very few
basketball players that
I have ever seen

732
00:44:46,945 --> 00:44:49,295
that couldn't go out
and shoot the basketball.

733
00:44:50,949 --> 00:44:53,691
But I think shooting
is an instinctive

734
00:44:55,083 --> 00:44:57,999
thing with most
basketball players.

735
00:44:58,043 --> 00:45:01,481
I'm looking for players
who are dedicated

736
00:45:01,524 --> 00:45:05,224
to playing
the difficult part of the game.

737
00:45:05,267 --> 00:45:09,271
And the difficult part of
the game would be playing
the tough defense.

738
00:45:09,315 --> 00:45:11,143
So it's time for practice.

739
00:45:11,186 --> 00:45:15,060
He, like, walk downstairs or
walk down the steps
and walk on the floor.

740
00:45:15,103 --> 00:45:16,148
So me and Bob's said,

741
00:45:16,191 --> 00:45:18,237
he's gonna light
these brothers up.

742
00:45:18,280 --> 00:45:20,326
They just don't know
what they're about to see.

743
00:45:20,805 --> 00:45:21,762
Jump ball.

744
00:45:25,113 --> 00:45:27,725
I think hit the first six
jumpers off the dribble.

745
00:45:27,768 --> 00:45:29,465
Woop, woop, woop,
woop on Doug Collins.

746
00:45:29,509 --> 00:45:32,164
Pop, Pop, Pop left! Standing
way over there. He over there.

747
00:45:32,207 --> 00:45:33,382
He shook him.
He's standing over there!

748
00:45:33,426 --> 00:45:34,906
He wide over, whoop.

749
00:45:34,949 --> 00:45:36,777
He said, George,
he said.

750
00:45:36,821 --> 00:45:39,649
I went there and the whole thing
is about Doug Collins.

751
00:45:40,520 --> 00:45:41,564
Was a showcase for him.

752
00:45:42,609 --> 00:45:44,350
And he said "I lit him up."

753
00:45:44,393 --> 00:45:46,134
"I had 50 on the halftime."

754
00:45:46,178 --> 00:45:49,268
In front of all the media,
all the scouts.

755
00:45:49,311 --> 00:45:50,573
Everybody saw it.

756
00:45:50,617 --> 00:45:53,576
He outplayed Doug Collins.

757
00:45:53,620 --> 00:45:57,015
Their star player, the
number one pick in the draft.

758
00:45:57,058 --> 00:45:58,843
Raymond destroyed him.

759
00:45:58,886 --> 00:46:00,105
I'm sorry to say.

760
00:46:00,148 --> 00:46:02,020
When
they played together

761
00:46:02,063 --> 00:46:04,544
Raymond outplayed Doug.

762
00:46:04,587 --> 00:46:07,547
In my opinion,
now, don't get me wrong.

763
00:46:07,590 --> 00:46:09,114
Doug was a great player.

764
00:46:10,593 --> 00:46:15,381
He could play, but he was
no match for Raymond.

765
00:46:15,424 --> 00:46:18,601
He just happened to have
one of those games, he...

766
00:46:19,777 --> 00:46:22,823
he was making everything.
I mean...

767
00:46:23,998 --> 00:46:26,871
He had great talent.

768
00:46:26,914 --> 00:46:28,089
Those papers, really.

769
00:46:29,395 --> 00:46:31,440
They really smashed up

770
00:46:32,615 --> 00:46:34,574
about Raymond
killing him like that.

771
00:46:38,752 --> 00:46:43,017
I can't say that we were
surprised that Raymond
could do it,

772
00:46:43,061 --> 00:46:48,022
but it actually got done
in front of enough people

773
00:46:48,066 --> 00:46:49,284
who could really see it.

774
00:46:51,852 --> 00:46:57,162
Philadelphia writers were...
They weren't very good writers.

775
00:46:57,205 --> 00:46:58,859
When the
scrimmage was on a break,

776
00:46:58,903 --> 00:47:00,905
he'd come back up the stairs
to me and Bob and say, man,

777
00:47:00,948 --> 00:47:02,515
they gotta get me some
more money, man.

778
00:47:02,558 --> 00:47:04,343
They've got to give me some more
money, man.

779
00:47:04,386 --> 00:47:05,910
So, the next day,

780
00:47:05,953 --> 00:47:07,737
He was 21-25

781
00:47:07,781 --> 00:47:08,826
after three quarters,

782
00:47:14,788 --> 00:47:17,051
and he said

783
00:47:17,095 --> 00:47:19,880
with free throws and everything,
he said he had, like 70 up
three quarters, and Gene Shue

784
00:47:19,924 --> 00:47:21,055
called the scrimmage off.

785
00:47:21,099 --> 00:47:22,752
He shut the whole thing down,
He said,

786
00:47:22,796 --> 00:47:24,102
they shut it down.

787
00:47:24,145 --> 00:47:28,541
Coach Gene Shue closed
the practices to the media

788
00:47:28,584 --> 00:47:31,631
because the media was writing
about how good he was.

789
00:47:31,674 --> 00:47:33,763
Better than Doug Collins.

790
00:47:33,807 --> 00:47:36,549
It was supposed to be
a come-out party for Doug
and Raymond blew the party up.

791
00:47:39,900 --> 00:47:41,467
It wasn't
exactly like that.

792
00:47:41,510 --> 00:47:43,991
No, I wasn't...

793
00:47:44,035 --> 00:47:48,648
I was never the type of coach
that would try to
protect your first pick,

794
00:47:49,823 --> 00:47:53,218
if some guy's just
eaten him for lunch.

795
00:47:53,261 --> 00:47:55,089
I mean, that would never happen.

796
00:47:56,699 --> 00:47:58,701
For most rookies,
the next stop was home.

797
00:47:58,745 --> 00:48:03,358
But for the 10 survivors,
including Rodney Freeman,
number 54,

798
00:48:03,402 --> 00:48:05,186
it was Buffalo.

799
00:48:05,230 --> 00:48:07,928
The games against the
Ernie DiGregorio led Buffalo
Brave rookies.

800
00:48:07,972 --> 00:48:10,713
And it was those 10 players
that they ended up taking up

801
00:48:10,757 --> 00:48:12,628
to Buffalo,
played a game up in Buffalo

802
00:48:12,672 --> 00:48:14,804
against the Buffalo Braves.

803
00:48:14,848 --> 00:48:18,373
And their heralded player
there was Ernie DiGregorio,
out of out of Providence.

804
00:48:18,417 --> 00:48:22,073
Doug didn't score as well as
I think that people would
hope he would.

805
00:48:22,116 --> 00:48:24,292
And I know that Raymond
didn't score as well

806
00:48:24,336 --> 00:48:26,033
as I think the folks
thought he would,

807
00:48:26,555 --> 00:48:27,556
up at Buffalo.

808
00:48:33,432 --> 00:48:37,827
Think both performed better when
they came down to Cherry Hill

809
00:48:37,871 --> 00:48:41,440
to play down there,
And I think Doug scored,

810
00:48:41,483 --> 00:48:43,833
you know, up in the
upper 20s, maybe.

811
00:48:43,877 --> 00:48:46,924
And then Raymond also was
low 20s, something like that.

812
00:48:46,967 --> 00:48:49,013
So, I think that they
performed the way

813
00:48:49,056 --> 00:48:51,232
that people thought
they probably should have,

814
00:48:51,276 --> 00:48:54,409
during the first game.

815
00:48:54,453 --> 00:48:57,325
You have to understand,
the stubbornness came

816
00:48:57,369 --> 00:49:01,068
because he thought he was better
than DiGregorio and Collins.

817
00:49:01,112 --> 00:49:02,504
That's simple.

818
00:49:02,548 --> 00:49:05,377
Anybody who wants to be honest
about this, Raymond

819
00:49:05,420 --> 00:49:07,379
thought he's better than
DiGregorio and Collins.

820
00:49:07,422 --> 00:49:11,949
His two peers, but that's
what it was about, personal.

821
00:49:11,992 --> 00:49:15,082
Raymond refused to accept
anyone was better than him.

822
00:49:15,126 --> 00:49:17,998
Well, with Raymond
everything came down to pride.

823
00:49:18,042 --> 00:49:21,001
And he had confidence
in his game.

824
00:49:21,045 --> 00:49:26,006
He displayed his abilities,
he felt that, you know,

825
00:49:26,050 --> 00:49:29,053
management and good faith
should have renegotiated

826
00:49:29,096 --> 00:49:33,622
the contract, after witnessing
that he was a better player.

827
00:49:33,666 --> 00:49:36,016
What he said was,
you guys took advantage of me.

828
00:49:36,060 --> 00:49:37,452
I didn't have no agent.

829
00:49:37,496 --> 00:49:39,585
Let's tear up this contract
and let's renegotiate.

830
00:49:39,628 --> 00:49:42,240
I'm not playing unless
I get more money.

831
00:49:42,283 --> 00:49:44,242
You got a little something.

832
00:49:44,285 --> 00:49:45,895
Raymond sat right there
and said, You're going...

833
00:49:45,939 --> 00:49:48,507
You're going to give him this,
and you're gonna give me this?

834
00:49:48,550 --> 00:49:50,465
No, We're going to
renegotiate the contract.

835
00:49:54,643 --> 00:49:56,776
I have no idea why he called me.

836
00:49:56,819 --> 00:50:03,087
What Raymond described to me,
to make this clear, was
I'm better than these people.

837
00:50:03,130 --> 00:50:04,479
That's what he said.

838
00:50:04,523 --> 00:50:05,785
What was about to happen,

839
00:50:05,828 --> 00:50:08,005
I had no idea what
was going to happen.

840
00:50:08,048 --> 00:50:10,224
I never thought
he'd do what he did.

841
00:50:10,268 --> 00:50:12,531
I mean, I understood after
he did it, why he did it?

842
00:50:12,574 --> 00:50:13,967
Because that's who Raymond is.

843
00:50:22,410 --> 00:50:25,457
When we came back
from veterans camp,

844
00:50:25,500 --> 00:50:29,722
He wasn't putting out and
playing the way that
I knew he could play.

845
00:50:29,765 --> 00:50:33,900
He had a "don't give
a damn attitude".

846
00:50:33,943 --> 00:50:36,859
Management wasn't willing
to sit down with him.

847
00:50:36,903 --> 00:50:41,255
It was a binding contract
and they weren't
going to renegotiate.

848
00:50:41,299 --> 00:50:43,518
They didn't want to
give him a new contract.

849
00:50:43,562 --> 00:50:46,173
So no Raymond Lewis,
I'm not showing up.

850
00:50:46,217 --> 00:50:50,221
It was a series of missed
practices not showing up,

851
00:50:50,264 --> 00:50:53,137
and at the time it was
a constant problem.

852
00:50:53,180 --> 00:50:57,315
His first year with the 76ers
was a complete disaster.

853
00:50:57,358 --> 00:50:58,577
So it got to the point,

854
00:50:58,620 --> 00:51:00,579
They said, well,
we're going to suspend you

855
00:51:00,622 --> 00:51:04,104
So they suspended him
for the first year with no pay.

856
00:51:07,325 --> 00:51:09,675
The city of Brotherly Love.

857
00:51:09,718 --> 00:51:13,287
No love was shown to Raymond
in Philadelphia.

858
00:51:24,733 --> 00:51:28,215
You know, regarding
people asking, you know.

859
00:51:28,259 --> 00:51:29,260
So where's Raymond?

860
00:51:30,304 --> 00:51:32,393
We may have
asked that question.

861
00:51:33,264 --> 00:51:35,396
But the train's moving.

862
00:51:35,440 --> 00:51:38,443
I mean, it's going down
the tracks and you're
either on it

863
00:51:38,486 --> 00:51:39,487
or you're off of it.

864
00:51:42,186 --> 00:51:44,927
When they told me
they were putting me
on waivers,

865
00:51:44,971 --> 00:51:47,060
I was kind of ticked off,

866
00:51:47,104 --> 00:51:50,672
and I didn't want to have
nothing to do with Philadelphia.

867
00:51:50,716 --> 00:51:54,328
You know, I knew I was
good enough to be
on that team, and they knew,

868
00:51:55,938 --> 00:51:58,158
and I'm sure Raymond
felt the same way.

869
00:52:03,337 --> 00:52:09,561
So anyway, I came
back to Chicago, and me
and Raymond,

870
00:52:09,604 --> 00:52:10,649
we say our goodbye.

871
00:52:13,217 --> 00:52:17,917
I didn't hear. I didn't hear
no more from Raymond or I
didn't hear no more about it.

872
00:52:25,011 --> 00:52:28,493
I had watched him
on numerous occasions,

873
00:52:28,536 --> 00:52:31,104
play in the pro summer league.

874
00:52:32,279 --> 00:52:35,456
We'd get there early
and, you know,

875
00:52:35,500 --> 00:52:38,590
invariably somebody would say,
There he is, he's up
in the stands.

876
00:52:38,633 --> 00:52:41,201
We looked up in the stands
and Raymond had these shades on.

877
00:52:41,245 --> 00:52:43,551
I remember him sitting like
up at the second level.

878
00:52:43,595 --> 00:52:46,728
looking over his shades,
looking at the game,

879
00:52:46,772 --> 00:52:48,687
just there he is,
and we're just looking at him,

880
00:52:48,730 --> 00:52:50,732
"Man, that's Raymond Lewis.
There he is right there."

881
00:52:50,776 --> 00:52:52,299
And then he'd come out
on the court.

882
00:52:52,343 --> 00:52:55,084
and get 50, 60 points
in the pro summer league.

883
00:52:55,128 --> 00:52:57,783
There was a rawness
about him that he knew.

884
00:52:57,826 --> 00:53:03,354
I mean, he looked at everybody,
kind of like, you know, what?

885
00:53:03,397 --> 00:53:05,443
He was cocky and
I didn't like him.

886
00:53:05,486 --> 00:53:08,663
He was cocky and and,
of course I was well seasoned,

887
00:53:08,707 --> 00:53:13,102
had the experience, and
I was physically a lot more
tougher than he was.

888
00:53:13,146 --> 00:53:15,235
I recall him get about 40 points

889
00:53:15,279 --> 00:53:17,194
on me, and I didn't like that.

890
00:53:24,853 --> 00:53:27,116
He tried to go play other teams

891
00:53:27,160 --> 00:53:30,511
while he was still under
contract with the 76ers.

892
00:53:30,555 --> 00:53:32,296
I think he went to Utah Stars.

893
00:53:32,339 --> 00:53:34,385
Nobody is
seated in the building.

894
00:53:34,428 --> 00:53:37,170
We go now to Beatty. Now
to Butler, Butler with a
driving layup. He scores!

895
00:53:38,476 --> 00:53:40,956
21 seconds to go
in the ball game.

896
00:53:41,000 --> 00:53:43,698
And they told me
this guard from L.A.

897
00:53:43,742 --> 00:53:48,921
was coming in, Raymond Lewis,
that had a name of himself
of a street legend.

898
00:53:48,964 --> 00:53:51,967
Well, I'm going to tell you
Raymond Lewis was outstanding.

899
00:53:52,011 --> 00:53:56,320
This guy put on a show when
he came to our training camp,

900
00:53:56,363 --> 00:54:00,193
and he was a guy that should
have been playing
for the Utah Stars.

901
00:54:02,935 --> 00:54:08,114
He was on the bench
about to step on the court,
about to play.

902
00:54:08,157 --> 00:54:11,291
I got a call from
the commissioner's office.

903
00:54:11,335 --> 00:54:15,295
Somebody called, they see
Raymond, siiting on the bench,
can't play, man.

904
00:54:15,339 --> 00:54:18,994
Still, you know,
the contract that you signed
with Philly is still in effect.

905
00:54:19,038 --> 00:54:20,822
Suited up, ready to
step on the floor.

906
00:54:20,866 --> 00:54:23,042
The lawyers step in
and say if he played,

907
00:54:23,085 --> 00:54:25,349
if he steps on the floor,
we're going to sue you blind.

908
00:54:25,392 --> 00:54:26,959
And the next thing I know,
he was gone.

909
00:54:27,002 --> 00:54:28,003
No explanation.

910
00:54:32,965 --> 00:54:34,009
Well, we had his rights.

911
00:54:34,053 --> 00:54:35,924
He had not been waived.

912
00:54:37,143 --> 00:54:39,798
He just left camp,

913
00:54:39,841 --> 00:54:45,673
in 73, and that means
that we retained his rights.

914
00:54:47,109 --> 00:54:49,460
The last thing
you want to do.

915
00:54:49,503 --> 00:54:52,289
is have this guy
floating around out there

916
00:54:52,332 --> 00:54:56,336
and land on some team
and become a star.

917
00:54:56,380 --> 00:55:00,514
Well, if he's going to become
a terrific player, let it be
at Philadelphia.

918
00:55:03,343 --> 00:55:07,739
And we let the world know
that Raymond belonged to us.

919
00:55:08,522 --> 00:55:09,654
He was our property.

920
00:55:12,744 --> 00:55:14,136
It's not right.

921
00:55:14,180 --> 00:55:17,139
They they did the young man
wrong by controlling him

922
00:55:17,183 --> 00:55:21,100
and not being able for him
to earn a living somewhere else.

923
00:55:21,143 --> 00:55:22,971
and take care of his family.

924
00:55:29,804 --> 00:55:30,979
And Gene Shue,

925
00:55:31,023 --> 00:55:33,808
the 76ers, that whole era,
the boy club,

926
00:55:33,852 --> 00:55:37,072
back then, you know,
you signed the contract.

927
00:55:37,116 --> 00:55:40,467
You play my way
or we won't let you play at all,

928
00:55:40,511 --> 00:55:42,251
and that's what happened
to Raymond.

929
00:55:42,295 --> 00:55:46,299
If Ray Lewis had
a good attorney,

930
00:55:46,343 --> 00:55:49,171
he could have sued because
there's no way in the world

931
00:55:49,215 --> 00:55:51,739
you could stop a person
from earning a living.

932
00:55:51,783 --> 00:55:55,613
So that was a setback for him
because he was excited

933
00:55:55,656 --> 00:55:59,573
about being able to get
on the court and play,
you know, professionally.

934
00:55:59,617 --> 00:56:00,922
I said,

935
00:56:00,966 --> 00:56:02,402
It's just another stone.

936
00:56:02,446 --> 00:56:03,534
You've got to step up.

937
00:56:04,752 --> 00:56:06,014
Just another stone.

938
00:56:15,459 --> 00:56:21,247
I do know going into the
third year, he did return,
he returned again.

939
00:56:21,290 --> 00:56:25,077
He went to camp,
I believe Darryl.

940
00:56:25,120 --> 00:56:26,339
Darryl Dawkins was...

941
00:56:26,383 --> 00:56:28,733
They had just drafted
Darryl Dawkins.

942
00:56:28,776 --> 00:56:31,562
In fact, he roomed
with Darryl Dawkins.

943
00:56:31,605 --> 00:56:35,435
I was now in my
second year with the Sixers,

944
00:56:35,479 --> 00:56:38,395
still very intrigued
about Raymond.

945
00:56:38,438 --> 00:56:40,571
And what could we...

946
00:56:40,614 --> 00:56:41,963
How do we get him to camp?

947
00:56:42,007 --> 00:56:46,185
Well, I was able to convince
him to come to camp.

948
00:56:46,228 --> 00:56:47,839
And Raymond came.

949
00:56:47,882 --> 00:56:49,928
I remember picking him up.

950
00:56:49,971 --> 00:56:51,930
The thing that most impressed me

951
00:56:51,973 --> 00:56:55,281
was that he had a Bible in his
hand as he came off the plane.

952
00:56:55,324 --> 00:56:58,502
I said, Maybe the Lord's
gotten ahold of Raymond here.

953
00:57:03,158 --> 00:57:05,509
Unfortunately, Raymond
had an obstacle.

954
00:57:05,552 --> 00:57:10,818
First off, they had "Jelly Bean"
Bryant, they had World B. Free.

955
00:57:10,862 --> 00:57:13,865
they had Coneil Norman,
Darryl Dawkins,

956
00:57:13,908 --> 00:57:17,390
So it was a situation
where they had a lot of guards,

957
00:57:17,434 --> 00:57:22,569
besides the starting two guards,
Doug Collins and Fred Carter,

958
00:57:25,267 --> 00:57:27,748
they had 12
guaranteed contracts.

959
00:57:27,792 --> 00:57:33,275
When you have guaranteed
contracts, you just have no
opportunity to fit in.

960
00:57:33,319 --> 00:57:36,061
I don't even,
you know, remember,

961
00:57:39,368 --> 00:57:41,109
you know whether
after the first year,

962
00:57:41,153 --> 00:57:44,286
whether he was given
any chance at all to come back.

963
00:57:44,330 --> 00:57:46,506
I don't remember
whether it was the first day

964
00:57:46,550 --> 00:57:49,640
or the second day
or somewhere early.

965
00:57:49,683 --> 00:57:54,514
I walked into the gym,
and Raymond is walking out.

966
00:57:56,951 --> 00:57:59,432
I guess he'd practiced
a day or two.

967
00:57:59,476 --> 00:58:01,347
I don't remember.

968
00:58:01,390 --> 00:58:03,784
Raymond is walking out
with his bag, he said,

969
00:58:03,828 --> 00:58:06,613
"I'm leaving."

970
00:58:06,657 --> 00:58:09,442
I said, "Raymond,
you just got here."

971
00:58:09,486 --> 00:58:13,272
He wanted to go back to LA.
Something had upset him.

972
00:58:13,315 --> 00:58:17,581
I don't know who had said
something to him or
what had happened.

973
00:58:17,624 --> 00:58:18,799
But he said, "I'm leaving."

974
00:58:22,716 --> 00:58:24,718
And we got him to the plane.

975
00:58:24,762 --> 00:58:26,546
I guess the Bible
was still with him.

976
00:58:28,548 --> 00:58:29,767
And he went back to LA.

977
00:58:29,810 --> 00:58:31,638
That's the last time I saw him.

978
00:58:48,263 --> 00:58:51,528
Do I think Raymond Lewis was
blackballed from the NBA?

979
00:58:53,617 --> 00:58:57,882
Yes, I do think that the NBA
turned their back on him.

980
00:59:01,276 --> 00:59:04,584
The worst thing
that can happen
to a black athlete

981
00:59:04,628 --> 00:59:08,588
is to be labeled
a troublemaker or malcontent.

982
00:59:08,632 --> 00:59:12,505
and Raymond got that label
put on him as a malcontent.

983
00:59:20,339 --> 00:59:25,170
He became a tool for
the league to say okay,

984
00:59:25,910 --> 00:59:27,651
you want to speak out?

985
00:59:27,694 --> 00:59:30,523
You want to cause a problem? You
want to become controversial?

986
00:59:30,567 --> 00:59:32,046
You want to forget your place?

987
00:59:32,090 --> 00:59:33,526
This is what happens to you.

988
00:59:33,570 --> 00:59:36,529
And, you know, what kind of a
basketball player he is.

989
00:59:36,573 --> 00:59:38,270
He set the standard.

990
00:59:38,313 --> 00:59:40,185
Now, I know Raymond
offended some people.

991
00:59:40,228 --> 00:59:44,015
Raymond was very... Raymond
was really considered arrogant

992
00:59:44,058 --> 00:59:46,757
by some people because Raymond
knew he was good.

993
00:59:46,800 --> 00:59:51,849
I think Raymond's attitude was
like, why do I have to change?

994
00:59:51,892 --> 00:59:53,546
Don't they get it?

995
00:59:53,590 --> 00:59:57,028
If you just let me play,
what's going to happen?

996
00:59:57,071 --> 01:00:00,814
Every time I step on the
on the floor, I destroy people.

997
01:00:00,858 --> 01:00:02,990
and people say Raymond
was ahead of his time,

998
01:00:03,034 --> 01:00:05,558
and I agree with that
because people put up

999
01:00:05,602 --> 01:00:09,867
with a lot more nonsense
nowadays with a lot of
pro athletes

1000
01:00:09,910 --> 01:00:12,783
than they would have
with Raymond Lewis,

1001
01:00:12,826 --> 01:00:17,004
But when I saw him, which was
less and less as time went on,

1002
01:00:17,048 --> 01:00:22,357
We talked about telling him I
saw this in the paper and
what's going next.

1003
01:00:22,401 --> 01:00:24,838
He'd tell me who's looking
at him, that kind of thing.

1004
01:00:26,448 --> 01:00:28,407
I'm not sure he knew
what was next.

1005
01:00:53,693 --> 01:00:56,783
Still here, just like
I remember.

1006
01:00:56,827 --> 01:01:02,354
So this is the duplex
in Long Beach that I grew up at.

1007
01:01:02,397 --> 01:01:03,398
Nothing changed.

1008
01:01:03,964 --> 01:01:05,183
It was my mom.

1009
01:01:05,226 --> 01:01:07,794
My dad, eventually,
my brother Rashad.

1010
01:01:07,838 --> 01:01:09,274
It was a typical family.

1011
01:01:09,317 --> 01:01:10,623
He didn't let us eat candy.

1012
01:01:10,667 --> 01:01:12,190
He wasn't into sugar.

1013
01:01:12,233 --> 01:01:13,321
We couldn't have sodas.

1014
01:01:13,365 --> 01:01:16,237
He was a typical strict dad.

1015
01:01:16,281 --> 01:01:18,457
You know,
we couldn't go off the...

1016
01:01:18,500 --> 01:01:21,155
We couldn't go off
the block at all.

1017
01:01:21,199 --> 01:01:25,899
He loved animals, so we had
a bunch of different types
of animals living here.

1018
01:01:25,943 --> 01:01:27,466
He was a the typical dad.

1019
01:01:30,164 --> 01:01:33,864
I think my dad's mentality
was that he was going to
get back into the NBA.

1020
01:01:33,907 --> 01:01:36,910
I don't think he ever
lost sight of that.

1021
01:01:36,954 --> 01:01:38,303
Never lost hope.

1022
01:01:38,346 --> 01:01:39,783
He got up every day.

1023
01:01:39,826 --> 01:01:41,915
He jump roped every day.

1024
01:01:41,959 --> 01:01:43,612
He worked out every day.

1025
01:01:43,656 --> 01:01:45,702
He ran every day.

1026
01:01:45,745 --> 01:01:49,531
He ate right, so I think he
always knew that

1027
01:01:49,575 --> 01:01:51,969
the second opportunity
was coming.

1028
01:01:52,012 --> 01:01:54,841
He kept everybody hanging on
like I'm going to make it

1029
01:01:54,885 --> 01:01:57,714
so you feel like good as he is,
he's going to make it.

1030
01:01:57,757 --> 01:02:00,934
So that kept you
hanging around more.

1031
01:02:00,978 --> 01:02:04,198
and his agents believed it
but they knew he wasn't
going to get back in.

1032
01:02:04,242 --> 01:02:05,678
But they was
giving him money.

1033
01:02:05,722 --> 01:02:07,680
You know, you wanna be my agent?

1034
01:02:07,724 --> 01:02:10,552
Give me $20,000. Wanna be
my agent? Just to keep him
going through life.

1035
01:02:10,596 --> 01:02:11,945
He'd get 20 from this agent.

1036
01:02:11,989 --> 01:02:13,991
He'd get 15 from this agent,
they get 30--

1037
01:02:14,034 --> 01:02:18,822
You know, That's how he
he maneuvered for like 10 years.

1038
01:02:18,865 --> 01:02:23,783
1978,
Sports Illustrated sent
one of their top reporters,

1039
01:02:23,827 --> 01:02:27,744
a guy named
Barry McDermott, and he
did this exhaustive piece

1040
01:02:27,787 --> 01:02:29,484
on Raymond.

1041
01:02:29,528 --> 01:02:31,878
Raymond came to me
and said,
"George, I got this."

1042
01:02:31,922 --> 01:02:35,099
That's like shoot coming up and
I said, you know, okay, Raymond,

1043
01:02:35,142 --> 01:02:36,622
he said, I want you
to help me get back in shape.

1044
01:02:36,665 --> 01:02:38,493
So bring your daughter, Camila.

1045
01:02:38,537 --> 01:02:40,408
She brought her to
my mother's house.

1046
01:02:40,452 --> 01:02:43,847
And then we'd go to
Long Beach and we'd run
from pier to pier every day.

1047
01:02:43,890 --> 01:02:45,370
And that's like 2 1/2 mi.

1048
01:02:45,413 --> 01:02:46,893
We'd sprint.

1049
01:02:46,937 --> 01:02:48,590
I'll follow him.
He'll follow me.

1050
01:02:48,634 --> 01:02:50,244
And then we will
leave from there.

1051
01:02:50,288 --> 01:02:52,769
And then we go to Gardena
and we play basketball.

1052
01:02:52,812 --> 01:02:55,728
We played it every single day.

1053
01:02:55,772 --> 01:02:58,252
We played against
Raymond at that period of time

1054
01:02:58,296 --> 01:03:01,038
in the summertime
to prepare him for
another shot at the NBA.

1055
01:03:01,081 --> 01:03:03,692
So that was when we
really played

1056
01:03:03,736 --> 01:03:07,261
quite a bit of one on one
full court, so he was ready.

1057
01:03:07,305 --> 01:03:10,830
Every day, man.
He was like, "Baby George,
I'm getting back."

1058
01:03:10,874 --> 01:03:12,440
"I'm getting back
in the league."

1059
01:03:12,484 --> 01:03:13,528
And he felt he was.

1060
01:03:13,572 --> 01:03:15,182
He felt he had
a genuine shot.

1061
01:03:24,017 --> 01:03:28,152
Raymond ended up in
the New York Knicks camp
with coach Willis Reed.

1062
01:03:28,195 --> 01:03:30,154
How about that?

1063
01:03:30,197 --> 01:03:33,897
And apparently
they were loaded with guards.

1064
01:03:33,940 --> 01:03:35,812
So Raymond leaves
the Knicks camp.

1065
01:03:39,206 --> 01:03:46,213
Gene Shue, who had been
his very first "coach"
in Philadelphia.

1066
01:03:46,257 --> 01:03:48,999
Gene is now with
the Clippers in San Diego,

1067
01:03:49,042 --> 01:03:52,132
and he brings
Raymond to camp.

1068
01:03:52,176 --> 01:03:54,178
Gene Shue said,
"I'll give you another shot."

1069
01:03:54,221 --> 01:04:01,707
And so I welcomed him, you know,
with open arms and hoping,

1070
01:04:01,750 --> 01:04:04,449
you know that he would play
well enough to be in the league.

1071
01:04:07,147 --> 01:04:11,935
You could tell by the news
footage that it really was
a competitive camp.

1072
01:04:11,978 --> 01:04:14,894
You know, by all accounts,
he had a really good camp.

1073
01:04:14,938 --> 01:04:17,114
He played outstanding.
He played good.

1074
01:04:17,157 --> 01:04:20,378
Freeman was in camp,
Freeman said
he had a good camp.

1075
01:04:20,421 --> 01:04:25,426
And Raymond goes out and the way
I understood it,
World's scoring.

1076
01:04:25,470 --> 01:04:27,167
Freeman is scoring.

1077
01:04:27,211 --> 01:04:29,778
Freeman's from L.A. now.
Freeman's scoring.

1078
01:04:29,822 --> 01:04:31,911
All those guys are getting the
oohs and ahhs and Raymond's

1079
01:04:31,955 --> 01:04:34,000
just playing boring
old point guard.

1080
01:04:34,044 --> 01:04:35,132
Based on how he put it.

1081
01:04:37,569 --> 01:04:38,831
Raymond said,

1082
01:04:38,875 --> 01:04:40,877
he played well
and he thought that he would get

1083
01:04:40,920 --> 01:04:43,618
a legitimate shot to play,
but they didn't...

1084
01:04:43,662 --> 01:04:44,793
They didn't let him play.

1085
01:04:46,883 --> 01:04:49,059
And finally he said,
enough of that.

1086
01:04:49,102 --> 01:04:50,103
So he starts scoring.

1087
01:04:55,282 --> 01:04:58,024
And once that happened,
he became expendable

1088
01:04:58,068 --> 01:05:00,200
because those other guys
were doing the scoring.

1089
01:05:10,123 --> 01:05:14,475
I, you know, I was hoping
in my heart that he would
show enough

1090
01:05:14,519 --> 01:05:17,783
that he would stay with the
team, but it just didn't
work that way.

1091
01:05:20,873 --> 01:05:23,615
I'm not saying Gene Shue
didn't believe that.

1092
01:05:23,658 --> 01:05:26,923
I'm saying the Gene Shue's
of the world are full of shit

1093
01:05:26,966 --> 01:05:30,230
because If you're talking
about ability,

1094
01:05:30,274 --> 01:05:35,192
then we've all watched ability
overcome anything.

1095
01:05:36,584 --> 01:05:39,196
They never gave
Raymond Lewis the benefit.

1096
01:05:41,241 --> 01:05:43,809
You can sugar coat it
all you want, man. You can...

1097
01:05:43,852 --> 01:05:46,638
You can allow a person
to try all you want.

1098
01:05:46,681 --> 01:05:48,596
But the end of the day,
it was...

1099
01:05:48,640 --> 01:05:51,164
If the fix is already in,
the fix is already in.

1100
01:05:51,208 --> 01:05:54,254
I thought it was a predetermined
plan by the NBA

1101
01:05:54,298 --> 01:05:55,821
not to let him play.

1102
01:05:55,864 --> 01:05:59,259
Raymond definitely felt that
he was blackballed, he says,

1103
01:05:59,303 --> 01:06:02,306
"Hey, man,
when you're blackballed,
you're blackballed."

1104
01:06:13,882 --> 01:06:15,841
At that point,
there's a clock on it.

1105
01:06:17,364 --> 01:06:20,454
You've got so much time
to get this stuff off of you

1106
01:06:20,498 --> 01:06:22,717
and get yourself
out there on the floor.

1107
01:06:22,761 --> 01:06:25,503
you know, and that window
was closing.

1108
01:06:25,546 --> 01:06:29,420
And in the meantime, he was
still playing summer pro
leagues, killing everybody.

1109
01:06:31,030 --> 01:06:32,901
every summer league came.

1110
01:06:32,945 --> 01:06:37,080
He kept going out there, showing
that he's on that
upper echelon level

1111
01:06:37,123 --> 01:06:41,084
because the NBA dudes
can't go out there and stop him.

1112
01:06:41,127 --> 01:06:45,349
The hype was getting bigger
and bigger because Raymond
was was playing, balling.

1113
01:06:45,392 --> 01:06:47,351
And this one particular game.

1114
01:06:47,394 --> 01:06:49,614
Cooper was going to be there,
Michael Cooper. Coop was
supposed to be there.

1115
01:06:49,657 --> 01:06:51,181
They're supposed to
shut him down.

1116
01:06:51,224 --> 01:06:53,096
So everybody was talking about
all of the conferences,

1117
01:06:53,139 --> 01:06:54,662
all talking about it.
So everybody was.

1118
01:06:54,706 --> 01:06:57,143
This day was packed.

1119
01:06:57,187 --> 01:06:59,841
And that particular
game players

1120
01:06:59,885 --> 01:07:03,280
of our caliber were
coming up and trying to
steal his thunder.

1121
01:07:03,323 --> 01:07:06,065
Well, now it was trying to
come back and just trying to

1122
01:07:06,109 --> 01:07:08,111
uphold his rightful throne,
in a sense.

1123
01:07:08,154 --> 01:07:12,115
And that's when things really
kind of caught caught fire,

1124
01:07:12,158 --> 01:07:14,639
Then because everybody now
is trying to take over

1125
01:07:14,682 --> 01:07:16,771
what Raymond Lewis
had had for so long.

1126
01:07:16,815 --> 01:07:20,471
If I could have, I'd have
knocked on Cooper's door
and said, "Don't show up today.

1127
01:07:20,514 --> 01:07:22,255
It's not gonna be good for you."

1128
01:07:26,520 --> 01:07:31,308
I remember playing in the game
and Raymond had the ball
the first time he got it.

1129
01:07:31,351 --> 01:07:35,877
He tried to go up on
Michael Cooper, and Michael
blocked it from down low.

1130
01:07:35,921 --> 01:07:39,446
and Raymond kind of fell and
complained to the official
like, "he's on my arm."

1131
01:07:39,490 --> 01:07:45,322
"He's on my arm," you know, and
We're going down and
laying it up. So right away,

1132
01:07:45,365 --> 01:07:49,195
those that thought that Raymond
could be contained by
Michael Cooper

1133
01:07:49,239 --> 01:07:50,762
started talking trash.

1134
01:07:50,805 --> 01:07:52,938
"I told you, you can't do
nothing with Michael Cooper."

1135
01:07:52,981 --> 01:07:55,027
"Not a legit NBA player."

1136
01:07:55,071 --> 01:07:59,031
Raymond kind of got away
in transition and hit a jumper.

1137
01:07:59,075 --> 01:08:01,816
And then he got
a breakaway layup.

1138
01:08:01,860 --> 01:08:03,949
And then somehow
there was a switch.

1139
01:08:05,081 --> 01:08:06,778
And Raymond got another shot.

1140
01:08:06,821 --> 01:08:09,302
It was his third in a row.

1141
01:08:09,346 --> 01:08:13,741
And I heard someone in the
stands as I'm on the court
playing saying just like this.

1142
01:08:13,785 --> 01:08:15,221
"There you go."

1143
01:08:15,265 --> 01:08:17,180
"There you go."

1144
01:08:17,223 --> 01:08:20,966
He hit another one, and now they
passed the ball
up the floor to him

1145
01:08:21,009 --> 01:08:23,969
and he took the ball
and had it on his hip.

1146
01:08:24,012 --> 01:08:30,193
And he told everybody clear up,
at that point, everyone
in the gym stood up.

1147
01:08:30,236 --> 01:08:33,065
And back then, you know,
we as ballplayers, we always

1148
01:08:33,109 --> 01:08:36,764
I don't know why we did it, we
would get our hands like that.

1149
01:08:36,808 --> 01:08:39,245
And we take our hands
and hit the ground.

1150
01:08:39,289 --> 01:08:41,160
He said, "We're ready.
Come on, bring it."

1151
01:08:41,204 --> 01:08:42,727
And Cooper did that.

1152
01:08:42,770 --> 01:08:44,685
He did it.

1153
01:08:44,729 --> 01:08:47,427
And Raymond did something to
where I still can't
tell you what he did.

1154
01:08:47,471 --> 01:08:48,994
He just did something.

1155
01:08:49,037 --> 01:08:53,085
And the next thing I know,
Coop was flying by him.

1156
01:08:53,129 --> 01:08:55,305
Raymond looked at him,
knocked it down.

1157
01:08:55,348 --> 01:08:57,133
People started running
out the gym.

1158
01:08:57,176 --> 01:08:59,570
I told you!

1159
01:08:59,613 --> 01:09:01,528
Raymond lit him up,

1160
01:09:01,572 --> 01:09:04,749
at least 40 by halftime.

1161
01:09:05,489 --> 01:09:07,055
Raymond gave our team

1162
01:09:07,099 --> 01:09:10,058
and I'm gonna say our team
because it wasn't all on me.

1163
01:09:10,102 --> 01:09:12,626
He gave us 67 that game.

1164
01:09:12,670 --> 01:09:16,195
It was a little disheartening
because again my forte

1165
01:09:16,239 --> 01:09:18,241
at that particular time
and the way that was able

1166
01:09:18,284 --> 01:09:22,680
to make my path to the Lakers
was being a good
defensive player individually.

1167
01:09:22,723 --> 01:09:25,596
So I took a little bit of heat,
but not too much, because again,

1168
01:09:25,639 --> 01:09:27,728
people knew this guy
was doing that on everyone.

1169
01:09:42,439 --> 01:09:47,531
He got invited to
training camp with the Spurs,
San Antonio Spurs.

1170
01:09:56,279 --> 01:10:01,197
Iceman was playing
and a guy named Johnny Moore,

1171
01:10:01,240 --> 01:10:03,329
who was a really
good basketball player.

1172
01:10:03,373 --> 01:10:10,858
That was the backcourt
at that point with the Spurs,
and they invited Raymond.

1173
01:10:10,902 --> 01:10:14,210
He's still thinking he'll
get back in the NBA after
eight, nine, ten years.

1174
01:10:14,253 --> 01:10:15,776
He's 30 now.

1175
01:10:15,820 --> 01:10:17,822
He's thinking he's
still get back in.

1176
01:10:17,865 --> 01:10:19,215
You never played a game.

1177
01:10:19,258 --> 01:10:21,304
You're still killing everybody.

1178
01:10:25,830 --> 01:10:31,923
And I remember after we
worked out all summer,
remember us parting ways.

1179
01:10:31,966 --> 01:10:33,925
I was going to camp.
He was going to camp.

1180
01:10:35,056 --> 01:10:37,711
So now the exhibition
games are here.

1181
01:10:37,755 --> 01:10:39,147
It's time to actually
play in games,

1182
01:10:39,191 --> 01:10:42,629
and I'm constantly wondering
what is Raymond doing?

1183
01:10:42,673 --> 01:10:46,067
How is he doing? Is he
gonna make it? What's going on?

1184
01:10:46,111 --> 01:10:49,332
So we're playing in
Omaha, Nebraska.

1185
01:10:49,375 --> 01:10:54,815
I'm with the Warriors exhibition
game, and I think I was
going to McDonald's

1186
01:10:54,859 --> 01:10:58,254
08:00 at night or
something, so they
let me use the car.

1187
01:10:58,297 --> 01:11:02,432
So I'm going out
and I'm just going on the radio.

1188
01:11:02,475 --> 01:11:03,737
flipping through the channels
a little bit,

1189
01:11:03,781 --> 01:11:07,567
and I hear this crowd cheering,
so right away,

1190
01:11:07,611 --> 01:11:11,876
who's playing? What game?
And this is what I hear.

1191
01:11:11,919 --> 01:11:16,184
That's the third consecutive
jumper by this rookie,
Raymond Lewis.

1192
01:11:16,228 --> 01:11:17,795
Even though he's 30 years old,

1193
01:11:17,838 --> 01:11:19,971
he'd never played in the league,
so he's considered a rookie.

1194
01:11:20,014 --> 01:11:21,973
This kid is phenomenal.

1195
01:11:22,016 --> 01:11:24,628
And I almost pulled
the car over.

1196
01:11:24,671 --> 01:11:25,716
I was so excited.

1197
01:11:25,759 --> 01:11:27,935
Like that's what
I'm talking about.

1198
01:11:27,979 --> 01:11:29,763
There you go.

1199
01:11:29,807 --> 01:11:33,027
It just sounded like
he was in the mix.

1200
01:11:49,130 --> 01:11:54,222
hit him hard, you know, as he,
you know, reached the
age of 29-30.

1201
01:11:54,266 --> 01:11:57,835
And saw where it was,
you know, fading away.

1202
01:11:57,878 --> 01:12:02,230
his his life's dream of playing
professional basketball.

1203
01:12:02,274 --> 01:12:05,277
We moved to Watts
and things changed.

1204
01:12:05,321 --> 01:12:07,758
And so that's when
I saw a definite shift.

1205
01:12:07,801 --> 01:12:10,891
I think it was kind of like we
couldn't afford to
stay here anymore.

1206
01:12:10,935 --> 01:12:12,371
So we were going out to Watson.

1207
01:12:12,415 --> 01:12:14,286
This family, of course
it was this grandfather

1208
01:12:14,330 --> 01:12:16,027
that owned where we were going.

1209
01:12:19,770 --> 01:12:24,644
I didn't really think too much
different of it, but I didn't
think my father knew.

1210
01:12:24,688 --> 01:12:28,082
While this is a shift,
I'm going back to Watts.

1211
01:12:28,126 --> 01:12:30,998
and I'm at the time I didn't
I didn't really realize it,

1212
01:12:31,042 --> 01:12:32,783
but he never was
the same after that.

1213
01:12:46,405 --> 01:12:49,408
This headline
this week passed
signaled the conclusion

1214
01:12:49,452 --> 01:12:53,238
of a six year legal battle by
seven former basketball players

1215
01:12:53,281 --> 01:12:56,415
who had charged that they
were fraudulently misled.

1216
01:12:56,459 --> 01:13:00,332
when they were recruited
by Cal State LA.

1217
01:13:00,376 --> 01:13:03,117
There's no question that it
will have a tremendous impact

1218
01:13:03,161 --> 01:13:06,599
on every major university
with a major athletic program.

1219
01:13:06,643 --> 01:13:10,081
I think coaches and athletic
administrators will think twice

1220
01:13:10,124 --> 01:13:13,432
before they load up
a student athletes course cards,

1221
01:13:13,476 --> 01:13:15,303
with a bunch of
meaningless courses.

1222
01:13:17,393 --> 01:13:19,699
And I asked Raymond
every time I would come back,

1223
01:13:19,743 --> 01:13:21,571
you need to join this lawsuit.

1224
01:13:22,833 --> 01:13:25,531
You are the one
that got burned the most.

1225
01:13:25,575 --> 01:13:28,142
You have not played
one minute in the NBA,

1226
01:13:28,186 --> 01:13:30,144
and Bob Miller is sitting here

1227
01:13:30,188 --> 01:13:32,625
telling you everything
is going to be all right.

1228
01:13:32,669 --> 01:13:33,800
I'm suing the man.

1229
01:13:33,844 --> 01:13:35,019
I'm suing the school,

1230
01:13:36,107 --> 01:13:38,936
the athletic director,
the coaches.

1231
01:13:38,979 --> 01:13:45,159
The president fired all of them.
Behind this, Raymond,
you need to be on here.

1232
01:13:45,203 --> 01:13:49,468
This doesn't need to be Eccles
versus Cal State. It should be
Lewis versus Cal State.

1233
01:13:52,036 --> 01:13:56,214
He was the one that got damaged
most behind everybody.

1234
01:14:01,915 --> 01:14:07,878
Unfortunately, he and you know,
Bob, you know, Bob is all right.

1235
01:14:07,921 --> 01:14:10,663
You know, Bob is not...
Speaking of Bob Miller.

1236
01:14:10,707 --> 01:14:13,971
I said, Bob is screwing you,
man, and he has screwed you.

1237
01:14:20,586 --> 01:14:21,848
Raymond had a broken heart.

1238
01:14:23,459 --> 01:14:24,634
Can you imagine?

1239
01:14:24,677 --> 01:14:26,679
You know, you see
all these ballplayers

1240
01:14:26,723 --> 01:14:29,116
that are making hundreds
of millions of dollars,

1241
01:14:32,337 --> 01:14:36,559
not being able to play
really, really affected him

1242
01:14:38,256 --> 01:14:41,868
and not being able to do
something that you
were gifted to do.

1243
01:14:41,912 --> 01:14:43,087
And Raymond was
gifted to do that.

1244
01:14:43,130 --> 01:14:44,436
He had other gifts
and talents too.

1245
01:14:44,480 --> 01:14:46,220
But there was one special gift,

1246
01:14:46,264 --> 01:14:49,659
that God gave him, that he
wanted to share with the world.

1247
01:14:51,922 --> 01:14:54,533
Slowly but surely, he, you know,
fell into it.

1248
01:14:54,577 --> 01:14:58,537
What I say is severe depression
and didn't know how to
fight his way out of it.

1249
01:14:58,581 --> 01:15:02,410
So eventually, we, me and
my brother, moved up north
and stayed permanently

1250
01:15:02,454 --> 01:15:05,762
with our with our grandparents
on our mother's side,
I think my mother

1251
01:15:05,805 --> 01:15:09,635
stayed a couple of more years
and couldn't take it anymore,

1252
01:15:09,679 --> 01:15:11,855
and she left too
and moved up north.

1253
01:15:13,596 --> 01:15:17,382
And so, with all of us gone,
he just got worse and worse.

1254
01:15:17,425 --> 01:15:22,735
The last time I saw Raymond,
I saw him in the stands at
a game over at Crenshaw

1255
01:15:22,779 --> 01:15:28,567
and Raymond being a little bit
older then, a little...
Going down a little bit.

1256
01:15:28,611 --> 01:15:30,874
little discontent with the game.

1257
01:15:30,917 --> 01:15:32,615
I think he had been
through so much

1258
01:15:32,658 --> 01:15:35,226
at that point in time
of his life, that
it just wasn't fair.

1259
01:15:35,269 --> 01:15:38,011
So I think the joy
and the lustfulness

1260
01:15:38,055 --> 01:15:41,580
of the basketball had kind of
left them because again,
the early Raymond

1261
01:15:41,624 --> 01:15:44,540
always had a sparkle in his eye
when he came into the gym.

1262
01:15:45,628 --> 01:15:47,847
Now, I know he began to
ask for money.

1263
01:15:47,891 --> 01:15:49,936
He wanted to borrow money
from different people

1264
01:15:49,980 --> 01:15:54,375
and I think by then he was,
you know, he had a
drug habit, was going,

1265
01:15:54,419 --> 01:15:56,943
and he just wasn't headed
the right way.

1266
01:15:58,815 --> 01:16:00,904
He always wanted
a couple of bucks.

1267
01:16:00,947 --> 01:16:02,558
He wasn't working.

1268
01:16:02,601 --> 01:16:04,429
He had spent most of his money.

1269
01:16:04,472 --> 01:16:08,128
He wanted help in one way
or another.

1270
01:16:08,172 --> 01:16:11,828
He was always looking
for something.

1271
01:16:13,960 --> 01:16:19,575
I remember when it
was starting to go downhill,
and we are living

1272
01:16:19,618 --> 01:16:22,665
in Santa Monica, California,
and he found us, I, you know,

1273
01:16:23,883 --> 01:16:25,363
and they came into our home,

1274
01:16:25,406 --> 01:16:26,625
and he wasn't doing well.

1275
01:16:29,715 --> 01:16:31,717
There was times that
I couldn't reach him.

1276
01:16:31,761 --> 01:16:36,243
And so if I couldn't reach him,
I would take the 400 mile ride

1277
01:16:36,287 --> 01:16:38,245
to just see him and
make sure he was okay.

1278
01:16:41,118 --> 01:16:43,076
I can't remember where I was.

1279
01:16:43,120 --> 01:16:46,558
But I knew that people
had told me that he was sick,

1280
01:16:46,602 --> 01:16:48,691
that he was having trouble
with his leg.

1281
01:16:51,824 --> 01:16:54,740
He had a sore on his on his leg
that wouldn't heal.

1282
01:16:54,784 --> 01:16:57,351
And so I heard Raymond
refused to go to the doctor

1283
01:16:57,395 --> 01:16:59,963
and it became so bad
and it was hurting him.

1284
01:17:00,006 --> 01:17:03,357
And he has to go. And went
to the doctor, they're like,
we've got to amputate.

1285
01:17:03,401 --> 01:17:05,403
So Raymond's like,
I can't play ball, man.

1286
01:17:05,446 --> 01:17:07,710
I mean, you know,
basketball being his life.

1287
01:17:11,801 --> 01:17:15,108
And before he went in
to the... into surgery,

1288
01:17:15,152 --> 01:17:19,243
he told me I can't shoot
a jump shot with one leg.

1289
01:17:19,286 --> 01:17:21,941
and I was like,
you're going to get the leg.

1290
01:17:21,985 --> 01:17:23,334
We're going to get you
a prosthesis.

1291
01:17:23,377 --> 01:17:24,683
You're Raymond Lewis.

1292
01:17:24,727 --> 01:17:26,729
They're going to do
whatever they have to do.

1293
01:17:26,772 --> 01:17:28,556
Don't worry about it.
You know, you're gonna be able
to shoot a jump shot.

1294
01:17:28,600 --> 01:17:29,732
It's all modern technology.

1295
01:17:29,775 --> 01:17:31,124
He didn't want to
hear any of that.

1296
01:17:31,168 --> 01:17:33,518
But he did it
and after that he never,

1297
01:17:33,561 --> 01:17:35,302
He never recovered.

1298
01:17:35,346 --> 01:17:39,132
I had a friend of mine called me
and tell me that Raymond
passed away.

1299
01:17:39,176 --> 01:17:41,787
I said, no, man,
I just seen him.

1300
01:17:41,831 --> 01:17:44,572
He's all right,
you know. He says,

1301
01:17:44,616 --> 01:17:46,531
"you got today's paper?"
And I went outside,

1302
01:17:46,574 --> 01:17:50,535
and picked it up and looked
at it and it was
"Raymond Lewis dies."

1303
01:17:55,322 --> 01:17:58,848
Here's a guy that loved
basketball so much

1304
01:17:58,891 --> 01:18:03,200
that if he thought he couldn't
shoot a round again,

1305
01:18:03,243 --> 01:18:05,985
he couldn't go out
on the playground

1306
01:18:06,029 --> 01:18:09,075
and just play a one-on-one
game with someone,

1307
01:18:09,119 --> 01:18:12,513
whether he was out of shape
or not, that he just
didn't want to live.

1308
01:18:14,733 --> 01:18:19,259
I loved him.
I felt bad for him.

1309
01:18:19,303 --> 01:18:22,828
I kind of cried the night
when I heard about it.

1310
01:18:24,612 --> 01:18:26,876
But, uh, it's a bad thing.

1311
01:18:28,660 --> 01:18:29,879
It's a bad thing.

1312
01:18:33,709 --> 01:18:37,277
To Lewis.
Lewis, 18-footer! Bullseye!

1313
01:18:43,022 --> 01:18:45,721
Every player that's ever
played with Raymond,
stand up.

1314
01:18:54,686 --> 01:18:57,471
There's those of us
who still live today.

1315
01:18:57,515 --> 01:19:02,389
It's a whole bunch of guys
who still love him.

1316
01:19:02,433 --> 01:19:05,479
and we cared about him
as a person,

1317
01:19:05,523 --> 01:19:09,092
despite what didn't happen,
if he was here today,

1318
01:19:09,135 --> 01:19:12,225
we'd all be seeing him
on a regular basis,
coming around him,

1319
01:19:13,749 --> 01:19:15,838
sitting around
talking about our good old days.

1320
01:19:15,881 --> 01:19:17,927
You know what I mean?

1321
01:19:17,970 --> 01:19:21,757
Growing up, I was mad at
Raymond because I felt like
we didn't have to live...

1322
01:19:21,800 --> 01:19:23,628
We could've been living better.

1323
01:19:23,671 --> 01:19:25,717
I didn't understand
the stance that he took.

1324
01:19:25,761 --> 01:19:26,936
I didn't understand any of that.

1325
01:19:26,979 --> 01:19:29,895
I was young.
I was mad until I got to an age

1326
01:19:29,939 --> 01:19:32,376
and I can understand the stance
that he took was epic.

1327
01:19:32,419 --> 01:19:34,944
And he's the reason that a lot
of people get paid what
they get paid now,

1328
01:19:37,163 --> 01:19:42,734
I believe that the players today
owe a debt of gratitude to
Raymond Lewis

1329
01:19:42,778 --> 01:19:46,259
because he was one of the first
to try the system.

1330
01:19:46,303 --> 01:19:49,349
I believe if they knew
the Raymond Lewis story,

1331
01:19:49,393 --> 01:19:54,441
then they certainly would have
a great appreciation
for what he sacrificed.

1332
01:19:55,355 --> 01:19:58,663
I think that Raymond Lewis

1333
01:19:58,706 --> 01:20:04,930
should be put in
the same category

1334
01:20:04,974 --> 01:20:10,327
as all of those athletes
who tested the boundaries.

1335
01:20:12,242 --> 01:20:15,114
He should be remembered
as an important part

1336
01:20:15,158 --> 01:20:18,204
of the history of that era.

1337
01:20:18,248 --> 01:20:20,728
He insisted on
dignity and respect.

1338
01:20:20,772 --> 01:20:22,600
He paid the ultimate price.

1339
01:20:22,643 --> 01:20:24,471
He died forgotten.

1340
01:20:26,169 --> 01:20:30,260
But that doesn't mean that
his contribution is
not indelible.

1341
01:20:32,697 --> 01:20:34,264
Isn't it interesting?

1342
01:20:34,307 --> 01:20:37,397
That Sonny Vaccaro can sit here
and tell you about Raymond Lewis

1343
01:20:37,441 --> 01:20:41,924
and he never played anything
or did anything or signed
any shoe contract.

1344
01:20:41,967 --> 01:20:43,882
Raymond Lewis never had
the benefit of that.

1345
01:20:43,926 --> 01:20:45,579
So why would he stay in my mind?

1346
01:20:48,017 --> 01:20:51,281
Because he, to me, epitomized
what this game is about.

1347
01:20:55,894 --> 01:20:58,244
He loved to play basketball.

1348
01:21:25,576 --> 01:21:29,754
Hey Dad, still keeping
your legacy alive.

1349
01:21:31,887 --> 01:21:33,279
Shoot in paradise, Baby.

1350
01:21:41,113 --> 01:21:43,811
You know, I've sat up at home
and thought and thought
and thought

1351
01:21:43,855 --> 01:21:46,205
and thought, you know,
nothing comes up.

1352
01:21:46,249 --> 01:21:49,643
Other than that, hey, when
it's over, when I'm through
thinking about it,

1353
01:21:49,687 --> 01:21:53,125
it's always like maybe this is
what God wanted me to do.

1354
01:21:56,999 --> 01:21:58,739
I'm not gonna lose my faith.

1355
01:21:58,783 --> 01:22:02,526
No matter what happened to me,
I'm not ever gonna
lose my faith.

1356
01:22:06,747 --> 01:22:09,011
Raymond Lewis,
17-footer, it's in.

1357
01:23:55,943 --> 01:23:57,815
I'm driving.

1358
01:23:57,858 --> 01:24:02,167
Mark Gottfried is on the
passenger side and
Raymond's in the back seat.

1359
01:24:02,211 --> 01:24:03,821
You've got to have this visual.

1360
01:24:03,864 --> 01:24:09,392
Okay? So I said, Hey, Raymond,
If you and I play one-on-one

1361
01:24:09,435 --> 01:24:13,700
a hundred times,
how many would I win?

1362
01:24:13,744 --> 01:24:20,229
He says, "You? Me and you?
Okay, I'll give it to you,
100 games..."

1363
01:24:20,272 --> 01:24:23,188
He said, "You might win two."

1364
01:24:23,232 --> 01:24:25,103
You know, that's what he said,
right?

1365
01:24:25,147 --> 01:24:26,626
So we started laughing.

1366
01:24:27,714 --> 01:24:29,368
And he starts laughing.

1367
01:24:29,412 --> 01:24:34,069
So then I said, "well, what if
you played against
Isiah Thomas?"

1368
01:24:34,112 --> 01:24:35,418
He said, "I'd give him..."

1369
01:24:35,461 --> 01:24:37,811
He said, "he's too short.
I just raise up over him."

1370
01:24:37,855 --> 01:24:39,813
"He couldn't stop my jumper."

1371
01:24:39,857 --> 01:24:45,428
So I said, one more time to Mark
because I'm going somewhere
with this thing.

1372
01:24:45,471 --> 01:24:47,560
I said, "what about Magic?
What if you play against Magic?"

1373
01:24:47,604 --> 01:24:49,345
"Oh, Magic is too slow."

1374
01:24:49,388 --> 01:24:51,738
"I'll get him coming up
and I'll just drive around him."

1375
01:24:51,782 --> 01:24:55,916
"He couldn't, and then once
he starts backing off,
now you know what time it is."

1376
01:24:55,960 --> 01:24:57,092
That's how he said it, he said,

1377
01:24:57,135 --> 01:24:58,571
"I'd just hit jumper
after jumper."

1378
01:24:58,615 --> 01:25:01,270
"He couldn't do anything
with me." One more time.

1379
01:25:01,313 --> 01:25:04,229
I tap Mark. I had him right
where I wanted him.

1380
01:25:04,273 --> 01:25:06,623
I said, "What about
Michael Jordan?"

1381
01:25:06,666 --> 01:25:08,755
He said,
"Well, Mike's too tall."

1382
01:25:10,409 --> 01:25:14,239
He stopped and
he quit joking. He said,

1383
01:25:15,197 --> 01:25:16,328
"Can you set that up?"

1384
01:25:17,503 --> 01:25:18,939
He says, "I'm older now."

1385
01:25:19,810 --> 01:25:22,204
He says, "I'm 35, 36."

1386
01:25:22,247 --> 01:25:24,902
"I can't predict
what I'm going to do anymore."

1387
01:25:24,945 --> 01:25:28,993
"But in all seriousness,
If you can set that up,

1388
01:25:29,036 --> 01:25:31,169
I'll get my little
sparring partners."

1389
01:25:31,213 --> 01:25:34,129
That's what he said.
"I'll get my jump rope
back out."

1390
01:25:34,172 --> 01:25:35,521
"You give me six months,

1391
01:25:36,870 --> 01:25:38,220
and let's see what happens."