I wrote earlier this season that the NBA, despite seeing a (David Stern) kind of golden age on the court, is awakening into a wasteland worthy of at least a little poetics. Dwyer, responding to the news that Brian Grant has been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, sums up what looks to me like an unfortunate symptom of this silent, invisible war of attrition.But, man, we've lost Johnny "Red" Kerr. We've lost Norm Van Lier, on the same day. Chuck Daly passed away earlier this month, and Wayman Tisdale lost his battle with cancer just last week. Notable and well-regarded owners like Larry Miller and Bill Davidson left the courtside seats in Utah and Detroit that we were so used to seeing them in. Kevin Duckworth passed before the season started, and Marvin Webster quietly moved on a few months ago.
Cuttino Mobley(notes), a player who was so instrumental in turning the Los Angeles Clippers around just three years ago, had to retire to a rather scary heart ailment. Grant's diagnosis was a shock, and perhaps most affecting to me, Lakers assistant coach Tex Winter suffered a stroke in late April.
Now, I don't have much else to say on this topic, but it does seem some part of the NBA body is ailing. Bill Walton has also been missing from the analyst's table these playoffs. What I did want to quickly touch on is Parkinson's Disease. My grandfather is afflicted with this disease, and it's not pretty. My grandfather also suffers from hallucinations, which I connect in my mind even if they're symptoms of different problems. But it makes me think of the ailment as ghostly and even a little romantic.
No one wants to see others suffer (okay, that's not true, but it's nice to type), but it does give us one more reason to admire people we've come to care about, whether in our personal lives or voyeuristic pursuits. With that in mind, here's a list of famous people who suffered from Parkinson's Disease: Michael J. Fox; Muhammad Ali; playwright Eugene O'Neill; Salvador Dali; electric guitar pioneer Leo Fender; Janet Reno; Francisco Franco; Mao Zedong; Deborah Kerr; and director of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid George Roy Hill. In sports, we like to give a lot of lists to show who athletes' accomplishments put them in league with. In life, we might sometimes look to do the same. Brian, it sucks that you're going through this, but take a look at that list and take heart. One love.
