Goodbye to John Feinstein at the age of 69.
Feinstein was a long-time columnist for the Washington Post and wrote forty-four books over his prolific career.
Feinstein wrote fiction and non-fiction about several sports but wrote most about basketball, especially college basketball.
Feinstein is most famous for writing "A Season on the Brink" a book that Bob Knight hated and never forgave Feinstein for writing after allowing Feinstein full access to the Indiana Hoosiers for the 1985-86 season.
I'm a fan of many of Feinstein's books but I think my favorite is "The Last Amateurs", Feinstein's book on the 1999-2000 season with the teams in the Patriot League.
Goodbye to Junior Bridgeman at the age of 71.
Bridgeman helped Louisville to the 1975 Final Four, after winning the Missouri Valley's (Louisville was a member of that league at the time) player of the year in both 1974 and 1975 before the Los Angeles Lakers picked him eighth overall in the 1975 draft.
Bridgeman would never play for the Lakers as Bridgeman, fellow Laker first-rounder Dave Meyers, Brian Winters, and Elmore Smith would be shipped to Milwaukee for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Walt Wesley in a trade that the Bucks would do far better than many remember.
Bridgeman would play ten of his twelve NBA seasons in Milwaukee (the first nine and his final year)m averaging thirteen points a game for his career, and his number two is retired by the team.
Bridgeman would invest heavily in Wendy's restaurants during his playing career and before selling in 2016, Bridgeman was rated as the fourth wealthiest retired player in sports due to his business acumen and portfolio.
Last year, Bridgeman purchased ten percent of the Bucks from various owners to own most of the team other than majority owner Jimmy Haslam.
Bridgeman's purchase of the Bucks stock took his net worth to billionaire status at 1.4 billion.
Goodbye to Oliver Miller at the age of 54.
The portly center-forward helped Arkansas to the 1990 NCAA Finals before a nine-season NBA career with six teams, most notably the Phoenix Suns, who drafted Miller in the first round in the 1992 draft.
Often compared physically to Charles Barkley, Miller could never get his weight under control to live up to his potential and only once in his nine-year career averaged double-figures in points.
Goodbye to Donald "Slick" Watts at the age of 73.
Known for his shaven head and headband, Watts made the Seattle SuperSonics as an undrafted free agent in 1973 but didn't start until the 1975-76 season when Watts became the first player to lead the NBA in assists and steals in the same season,
Watts would play four seasons with Seattle before being traded to New Orleans for a first-round draft pick midway through the 1977-78 season.
After the season, Watts was traded to Houston where he played the following year before suffering a career-ending injury.
Goodbye to Kenneth Sims at the age of 65.
The top overall pick in the 1982 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots, the Texas defensive lineman was a disappointment as a professional, notching only seventeen sacks in eight seasons, all as a Patriot.
Sims struggled with injuries and only twice played fifteen or more games in his eight seasons and only once finished with more than 3.5 sacks in a season, grabbing 5.5 for the 1985 AFC Champion Patriots.
Sims won the Lombardi Award as the nation's best defensive lineman in 1981 for Texas and was named All-American in both 1980 and 1981.
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