So what would you consider to be a good friend? Watching your neighbors' kids because you're running late from work? Buying groceries for a sick friend ? Lending your car or an extra generator to a neighbor in a time of need? Loaning money to an out of work friend? Picking a friend up at 3 a.m from the airport? Making a call to try to try to get a friend a job?
Yes, yes these are what friends do for each other. But , the story of Jack Twyman and his teammate , Maurice Stokes, truly brought the definition of "friendship " to another level! Twyman and Stokes were All-Star caliber players on the Cincinati Royals of the NBA in the late 1950's . Twyman went on to the Hall of Fame. Stokes a talented power forward, who once pulled down 38 rebounds in a game, probably would have made it there too. But.....
As the story goes on March 12th 1958 , during a game against the Minneapolis Lakers, Stokes in a collision with another player fell and hit his head on the floor. A few days later , Stokes at age 24 lasped into a coma. When he came out of it he was paralyzed .
Stokes , who had no family in Cincinati was alone. What did Twyman do? Not much! Just dedicated his life to taking care of Maurice Stokes. Caring for him medically, financially, spiritually...And most importantly being with him....being a friend. Twyman organized the annual Maurice Stokes Classic, an All-Star basketball game in the Catskills which raised tremendous amounts of money for Maurice. Twyman, it seemed was with Maurice more than he was with his wife and family. And Twyman only sought Stokes' friendship and companionship in return.
In 1970, after making significant strides to recovery, Stokes passed away. Twyman passed away just this past week at age 78 . These were two great men. Not for what they did on the basketball court, but what they did in life when adversity hit home.
Now that's a friend! God Bless em both.
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