(Relatieve) 'Unsung Heroes' in het Basketball

Iedereen kent de 'helden', of liever gezegd de 'Supersterren' van zijn eigen sport, ook velen buiten de basketball-wereld kennen LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, als 'Sterren van nu'. Tomeloze budgetten exploiteren hun bekendheid, en vergroten die tegelijk; honderden miljoenen US-dollars voor tien jaar het recht om James, Bryant en Derrick Rose als vaandeldrager te gebruiken lijken wel schering en inslag. Maar de keerzijde is dat er -zelfs in de NBA, maar zeker erbuiten - spelers rondlopen die ook vreselijk goed zijn (of waren), maar het op de een of andere wijze niet schopten tot de status van 'Superster'. En dan kan je ook weer snel vergeten worden..!

Hieronder een verhaal over een speler die een NCAA-Superster was, dit niet ook werd in de NBA, maar wel in Europa. Maar dat wil nog niet zeggen dat de 'kids of today' - bijvoorbeeld in Nederland - hem ook nog kennen, zeker niet als de man al 10 jaar dood is...

Een verhaal vanuit de EuroLeague Basketball:


EUROLEAGUE 04/09/2014, 10.04, Sept.4 2004-Sept.4 2014:

10 years without Alphonso Ford

10 years ago Alphonso Ford died

Euroleague
10 years ago, on September 4 2004, Alphonso Ford, one of the greatest greatest scorers in college basketball history and in European basketball, died due to leukemia.

Ford was a high school star player for Amanda Elzy High School in Greenwood, Mississippi. Upon entering college basketball at Mississippi Valley State University, Ford led the entire NCAA in freshman scoring during the 1989-90 season with a 29.9 points per game average. In his sophomore year, he averaged 32.9 points per game, second only to Bo Kimble of Loyola Marymount University. He became the first player in NCAA history to average 25 points per game in four straight seasons. His 3,165 career points scored in the NCAA are 4th on the all time scoring list behind only Pete Maravich, Freeman Williams and Lionel Simmons.

Ford has played a few games in the NBA before landing in Europe where he became a legend.

Ford has played in Spain with Huesca, in Greece with Papagou, Sporting Athens, Peristeri and Olympiacos and in Italy with Montepaschi Siena and Scavolini Pesaro.
He ended his career with Pesaro at the end of the season 2003-204.

Averaging 22.2 points per game, Ford, in his final season, helped Scavolini finish in fourth place in the Italian League, which meant the team qualified to the next season's Euroleague, and to the Italian Cup's runner-up position, despite being near death. That accomplishment still speaks for itself today.

Shortly after announcing his retirement from Euroleague Basketball, Ford died from leukemia, at age 32.

In Ford's honor, the Euroleague named its trophy for the leading scorer of the year, the Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy.

Ciao Alphonso Ford (Scavolini Basket Pesaro):