Watchdog

"I think he was the most worldly man I ever met,'' Packer said. "House would say, 'You have to meet Coach McLendon.' I never got to meet him, then all of a sudden I’m on the Basketball Hall of Fame board of directors.

"M and P, McLendon and Packer. We're sitting together [in alphabetical order]. So I introduce myself to him. That’s 30 years ago.

"He was so brilliant about so many things. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a contributor, because they wouldn’t let a black man in as a coach. I had made the comment we’re moving in a direction that isn’t making sense to me. We’re inducting more referees than we are black people. We have to get our head on straight here.

"He never got into all that racial stuff. But we got out in the hallway and he took his [Hall of Fame] ring off and showed me. He said, 'Billy, I'm glad to see you moving in this direction because as you know they didn’t think I should be in as a coach.'

"If you get a chance to buy his book ["Fast Break Basketball: Fine Points and Fundamentals"], it’s the greatest basketball teaching book of all time, of all time. And it may be the greatest book about life and goals that I’ve ever read."

Packer recalled the story of white students leaving the University of Kansas pool when McLendon jumped into it, at which point Naismith informed the students they would not be eligible for a physical education degree if they did not get into the pool.

"Basically, he integrated the swimming pool at the University of Kansas," Packer said, referring to one of numerous firsts for McLendon.

Said Packer: "He is one of America’s giants. He was a Martin Luther King, of that status."