Jack Twyman died. You should know who he was.
(He was much more than a basketball player. Read the whole story.)
<snip>
It was 1958. A 23-year-old white guy basically adopted a paralyzed 24-year-old black man.
Maurice Stokes played with Twyman on the Cincinnati Royals. They’d come in together as rookies three years earlier. Twyman was a skinny swingman from the University of Cincinnati with a deadly shot. In 1959, he became the first player besides Wilt Chamberlain to average more than 30 points a game. Twyman would probably rank as one of the top couple hundred players in NBA history.
Stokes was on his way to the top 10 until the night of March 12, 1958.
<snip>
In the last game of the regular season, Stokes went skyward and fell backward over another player. The back of his head slammed the court, knocking him cold.These days, Stokes would have been immobilized and rushed to the hospital. In 1958, he was given smelling salts and sent back in.
<snip>
An ambulance was waiting at the Cincinnati airport. Stokes had suffered post-traumatic encephalopathy. The blow had damaged the part of his brain that controls motor function. He would never walk again. At first, all he could do was blink.
<snip>
Stokes had $9,000 in his bank account. He was single, and what family he had was in Pennsylvania and in no financial shape to help. Twyman applied to become Stokes’ legal guardian. A judge granted the request. That allowed Twyman to handle the bills, apply for workman’s compensation and chop through the paperwork.
<snip>
Twyman was far more than Stokes’ bookkeeper, however. He eventually had four children, and Stokes was almost as much a part of his life as any of them.Again, this was 1958. That didn’t matter. “There was no defining a person by the color of their skin,” Jay said. “He basically adopted Maurice.”
<snip>
Read more: http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2012-06-01/jack-twyman-maurice-stokes-foundation-tim-duncan-karl-malone-cincinnati-royals#ixzz1wcxPAKWP
RIP Jack Twyman! You done more than good.
You and Maurice can ball all you want to now.
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What a tremendous guy. 
You begin to believe that we're all pretty rotten and there is no hope for the species.
And then, rare as it is, a story like this comes along and changes your whole outlook.
I was a high school senior basketball player when this story unfolded and I recall being tremendously impressed with the generosity displayed by Jack Twyman. Of course I had forgotten about it over the years but it makes me feel just as good today as it did over 50 years ago when I first heard it.
Thanks for posting this and improving my outlook.
is because of people like Jack Twyman. i know there are more good people out there, but it seems like the only stories getting the publicity are the people who eat people. (and they aren't lucky)
