I don’t remember where I saw this book advertised, but when I clicked on it and read the description, I was totally blown away by the names of the players on that Dunbar High School basketball team. Four of them, I am very familiar with – Reggie Lewis, Reggie Williams, David Wingate, and Muggsy Bogues.
Reggie Lewis, he played for the Boston Celtics and unfortunately, he passed away at age 27 due to some heart issues. Of all of them, Lewis had the most success in the NBA. Even though I wasn’t a fan of the Celtics, I can still clearly see his number 35 jersey playing for the Celtics. I enjoyed his overall game.
Reggie Williams, played for Georgetown with John Thompson as the head coach. I read the autobiography of Thompson and Williams was mentioned a lot. Williams was the 4th pick in the 1987 NBA draft, and ended up playing for a few teams, including the San Antonio Spurs.
Man, I was just looking at the 1987 NBA Draft class, and number 1 was David Robinson who was selected by the San Antonio Spurs. Kenny Smith, whom I just read his book a few weeks aga, was picked number 6 by the Sacramento Kings. Muggsy was selected number 12 by the Washington Bullets. Reggie Lewis was selected number 22 by the Boston Celtics. So, three of the players from that Dunbar team were selected in 1987.
David Wingate, also played at Georgetown and played for a few teams in the NBA, again including the San Antonio Spurs. He was drafted in the 1986 NBA draft in the second round.
Lastly, we got Muggsy Bogues. I read his book last year. Most of his NBA experience was with the Charlotte Hornets. Several years ago, when the Charlotte Bobcats got their Hornets team name back, I purchased a t-shirt with a player’s name and number and I really wanted it to be Muggsy, but they didn’t have any. So, I settled on Alonzo Mourning.
I was a fan of the San Antonio Spurs up until my son was born in 2016, and then afterwards, I just stopped paying attention to the Spurs, sports in general, and television. I also enjoyed the NBA in general. I did have the NBA League Pass a few times, and always enjoyed it.
Now, let’s get to the book.
In addition to the players listed above and a brief bio of them, Alejandro Danois also talked about the rest of the team, and how they got involved with basketball at different places in the Baltimore area. They all grew up together, and that helped them achieve great success on the basketball court.
How can I leave out the most important person on the Dunbar basketball team, and that is the head coach, Bob Wade. Everything starts with him, and along with his coaching style, coaching influences, and his athletic career, he was like a dad to the players.
I really enjoyed it, and the flow was easy to follow. I am glad, that when specific games were mentioned, it wasn’t drawn out to 10 pages and a possession by possession walk through!
I am glad I stumbled upon this book.
