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Positive choices emphasized by former NBA player
Former NBA player stresses importance of wise decisions
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
The choices you make follow you for a long time. That’s why former NBA player Michael Morrison urged students at Stambaugh Charter Academy on Tuesday to make positive ones.
Morrison, who played for the Phoenix Suns and teams in the Continental and Philippine basketball associations, grew up outside Washington, D.C.
At 11, he learned about guilt by association. After a friend broke into a city park building to use kickball equipment after hours, his friends conspired to blame Morrison.
He was sentenced to two years’ probation and had to stay out of trouble until he was 18 to get the charge expunged. But after that, he was the one others always suspected whenever anything came up missing.
“The mistakes you make will follow you until you prove them wrong,” Morrison said.
He dreamed of becoming a professional athlete but didn’t do well academically in his early years and acted out. He was diagnosed with dyslexia and attention deficit disorder.
Morrison was expelled from public school for behavior problems and ordered to an alternative school. Although he was an eighth-grader, he tested at a third-grade level.
The principal, who was also the dean of discipline
and the athletic director, wouldn’t allow him to play sports until he improved his academics.
At first Morrison refused, and while the other students enjoyed a field trip, he earned a paddling and labor with the school maintenance crew.
“Needless to say, I learned a good lesson: Sometimes pain can be a good motivator,” Morrison said.
Later, he listened to a speaker who talked about the role of Christ in his life. Morrison became a Christian, using the Scripture, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” as inspiration to overcome his learning disabilities.
He applied himself and improved his grades and played basketball in high school.
Morrison attended Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore, playing basketball and setting records that stand today. He also was the first male member of his family to earn a degree.
While in college, one of his close high-school friends was drafted by the Boston Celtics, the second overall draft pick in the NBA. He signed a lucrative shoe endorsement contract, but two days later Len Bias died of a cocaine overdose at college.
That cemented Morrison’s pledge never to try drugs.
Morrison was drafted by the Suns, the only Loyola player to achieve that honor. He distributed copies of his NBA trading card to the students who filled out information about their choices.
“I’m wealthy because I’m living my dream every day,” he said.