The secret to outthinking the opposition and overcoming many of life’s obstacles can be found on the hardwood, NBA great Bill Walton told a group of Fordham University Men’s Basketball supporters on Tuesday, Nov. 6.
“Basketball, like life, is a game of skill, timing and position,” Walton said to the 2007-2008 Fordham Men’s Basketball team and approximately 350 of their supporters at a tipoff dinner held at Tavern on the Green in Central Park. “It’s about the confidence that will allow you to convince your opponent that they have no chance to win.”
Walton, a former member of the Portland Trailblazers and Boston Celtics who was inducted to the NBA Hall of Fame in 1993, discussed how he overcame a speech impediment through hard work and lessons he learned from his college basketball coach at UCLA, John Wooden.
“It’s not how big you are, it’s how you play,” said Walton, a game analyst for ABC sports and ESPN. “I say to the young people I see here tonight that you can use basketball to get all that you want out of life. It’s what (Fordham) Coach Dereck Whittenburg wants for this team.”
Fordham’s regular season opens on the road in Manhattan with a game against Columbia University on Nov. 9 — a game that will broadcast on the YES cable television network. The team will then travel to Columbia, Mo., for the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic on Nov. 12 and 13.
The Rams play their first of 14 home games on Nov. 24, as they host the College of Charleston. Fordham will face 16 Atlantic 10 Conference opponents this season.
Season tickets are available by calling the Fordham Ticket Office at (718) 817-4300. Individual tickets are now on sale and may be purchased at the Fordham Ticket Office or online at www.fordhamsports.com.
