By Woodrow Carroll
The recent death of former National Basketball Association (NBA) star Chet Walker brings to mind how talented athletes face each other at an early age, then, often later end up do battle at a higher level, or, as teammates, in some cases!
Chet Walker went to high school in Benton Harbor, Mich. before going on to be a star at Bradley University in Peoria. Walker made a name for himself in the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers and as a starter as a forward on the 1967 team that featured Wilt Chamberlain which captured the NBA championship and, in the process, ended the eight-year title run of the Boston Celtics.
After seven seasons with the 76ers, life in the NBA for Walker concluded with six years in a Chicago Bulls’ uniform. Those seasons in Chicago were good for Walker and the team. The only drawback was that the Bulls did not reach the NBA’s championship series round.
In high school, in large part, thanks to Walker’s stellar play, Benton Harbor played in the championship game of the 1958 Michigan Class A boys basketball tournament.
The 1958 Class A championship game was Benton Harbor against Detroit Austin. The star player for Austin was Dave DeBusschere. The score was close, however, thanks to 32 points by DeBusschere, Austin prevailed, 71-68.
Although Walker took his basketball skills to Bradley in Peoria, DeBusschere stayed local and played for the University of Detroit. (Detroit Mercy today.)
Walker was strictly a basketball man, but, DeBusschere starred in both baseball and basketball. It was in baseball that DeBusschere first reached for the stars.
DeBusschere was a star in baseball and basketball at the University of Detroit. He started out pitching for the Chicago White Sox.
Time with the White Sox did not go as planned for DeBusschere. Two seasons in Chicago found him with only a 3-4won-loss record which included time in the minor league. So, he gave pro basketball a try, a wise decision.
A Detroit product, DeBusschere ended up with the NBA’s Detroit Pistons, and, briefly as player-coach of the Pistons, the youngest coach in NBA history. A trade to the New York Knicks during the 1968-1969 season cemented the DeBusschere legend.
His first full season with the Knicks was an NBA championship. In 1970, the Knicks beat the Los Angeles Lakers in a dramatic seven-game final. Three years later, in 1974, with DeBusschere well established as a starter, the Knicks reigned supreme as the champion.
DeBusschere’s final season in the NBA was 1973-1974. Walker played his final pro season in 1974-1975. They were two players who squared off as seniors in high school and went on to greater glory in the pros.
•More to think about: The 1955 Indiana boys basketball state championship game found Indianapolis Crispus Attucks beating Gary Roosevelt, 97-74. The legendary Oscar Robertson was the star of the game for Crispus Attucks. Showing the way for Roosevelt was Dick Barnett. Both made their marks in the collegiate ranks, Robertson at the University of Cincinnati and Barnett at Tennessee A&I. (Tennessee State today.)
Both Robertson and Barnett had to wait for NBA championships. In 1970, Barnett was the starting guard for the Knicks, a DeBusschere teammate, when New York claimed the NBA championship.
The next season, after being traded from the Cincinnati Royals to the Milwaukee Bucks, Robertson teamed up with Kareem Abdul Jabbar (Lew Alcindor at the time) to lay claim to the NBA championship.
Walker, DeBusschere, Barnett, and Robertson, were four players who reached the state championship games in high school, then, after long waits, added NBA championship rings to their collections.