Frank Thomas

Notable Sports Figures
Related Biography: Basketball Coach Bill Sharman
An outstanding basketball player himself, Bill Sharman won NBA
Coach of the Year honors in 1972 for coaching the Los Angeles Lakers to
their first NBA championship ever. An important element in Sharman’s winning
strategy for the Lakers during the 1971-72 season was Jerry West.
Born in Abilene, Texas, on May 25, 1926, Sharman was a four-year
letter winner at the University of Southern California (USC) under Hall of
Fame coach Sam Barry. He was named by the Sporting News to its All-
America first team in 1950 after setting a new conference scoring record of
18.6 points per game. After being graduated from USC, Sharman played for
the NBA’s Washington Capitols during the 1950-51 season before moving
on to the Boston Celtics for 10 years, from 1951 to 1961. His last year as a
pro player was spent with the Los Angeles Jets of the American Basketball
League (ABL) during the 1961-62 season.
After coaching briefly with the ABL’s Jets and Cleveland Pipers, Sharman
took over coaching duties at California State University, Los Angeles,
where he coached from 1962 through 1964. He returned to the pros in 1966
as coach of the NBA’s San Francisco Warriors, moving on to the American
Basketball Association’s Los Angeles Stars in 1968 and the Utah Stars in
1970. Sharman’s greatest glory, however, came during the five years he
coached the Los Angeles Lakers, from 1971 to 1976. Sharman was the only
coach in history to win championships in three different leagues.
“Jerry West’s Career Highlights.” CBS SportsLine.com.
http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/ce/feature/0,1518,
2644466_54,00.html (December 6, 2002).
“NBA Legends: Jerry West.” NBA. http://www.nba.com/
history/west_bio.html (December 6, 2002).
Reggie White
1961-
American football player
Sketch by Don Amerman
Defensive end Reggie White, known as the “Minister
of Defense,” was named the NFL Defensive Player
of the Year in 1987 and 1988. He was a Pro Bowl player
13 consecutive seasons from 1986 to 1998 and he is football’s
career sacks leader with 681 ⁄ 2. In 1997 and 1998, he
helped take the Green Bay Packers to the Super Bowl,
coming away with a victory in Super Bowl XXXI. A devoutly
religious man, White has been as controversial off
the field as he was tremendous in the huddle.
A Football Player and a Minister
White grew up in the housing projects of Chattanooga,
Tennessee, and was raised by his mother; he
barely knew his father, but his mother remarried and
White’s stepfather helped raise him. When he was 12,
White told his mother that he wanted to be a football
player and a minister. He attended a Baptist church and
Reggie White
White
began preaching at age 17. He combined his religious
fervor with a drive to compete and a gift of athletic talent;
he was an All-American player in his senior season
at the University of Tennessee, and then spent two years
playing with the Memphis Showboats of the United
States Football League (USFL). In 1985, he joined the
Philadelphia Eagles. In 1992, White was ordained as a
nondenominational minister.
White played with the Philadelphia Eagles for eight
seasons. In every one of those seasons he recorded double-digit
sack numbers, with a high of 21 in 1987. He
became one of the most feared players in the NFL and a
nightmare to quarterbacks, averaging 15.5 sacks per season.
White and his wife, Sara, were also deeply involved
in a ministry in the housing projects of north Philadelphia.
White, Sara, and some of White’s Eagles teammates
often spent Friday nights in the projects, and on
weekdays, White often went back to lead Bible studies,
to volunteer at church councils, and to assist at fundraising
events.
In 1993, White was eligible to be a free-agent. Many
NFL teams joined in the bidding for the superstar defensive
lineman. When Norman Braman, owner of the Eagles,
refused to pay White the salary he wanted in order
to prevent him from leaving as a free agent, thousands
of fans rallied to try and convince Braman to pay. He
wouldn’t, and at a farewell luncheon, White cried as
over 300 fans gave him a lengthy standing ovation. Fi-
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