Years ago, the average salary in the nba was 5,000. Thats not even meal money now. In the middle 60s, we struck the allstar game, the 20 top players in the league got together and struck an allstar game to form the union. The owners said, no way. We are not going to do that. So we said, okay. There will be no allstar game. Abc television said that if you want us to televise, you get your players on the floor. They said, lets talk to them. So they said, we dont want to lose face. What we will do is if you will play the allstar game, at the end of the year, we will recognize the union. So they vote 119 to play. And we played the allstar game. So at the end of the year we went in to talk to the commissioner. He said, i recognize the players association. But we do not have anything to talk about. Im not going to talk to you about anything. So our lawyer said, i will see you in september. Thats the beginning of the next season. The commissioner said, the playoffs start next week. Oh, no. We
Has gotten through some troubled times and understands what we are doing is ray lewis. Ray, i think, can be the leader of a lot of these young individuals who need that leadership, who want to learn what to do and how to participate in making tremendous change within this country. I thought i would interject that. There is no question that every generation has to develop its own leadership. I think that we can people of our generation can do the analysis and tell them about what happened in the past and where we think they are. But ultimately, its going to have to be this generation thats going to have to take the leadership and responsibility. Let me ask, i know that because we are running short here. Let me ask this. I know that progress many times is a lot like the concept of profit. It really comes down to who is keeping the books. And so in looking at where we are, how much progress have we actually made in sports given the fact that we are down to 8 africanamericans in baseball,
Wichita linemen . Just as a guy who understands the entertainment part of this thing. Everybody else would have been, too, if he would have stood up there and sung the wichita lineman. I dont know how to answer that. I almost dont know what youre talking about. All right. Okay. Well, were down to the last 15 seconds. Okay. I want to say something, please. Lifetime best friends and a guy that ive known 50 years. I got a bid here. But i thought it was such an honor for me to be invited. Because all ive ever tried to do in my adult life is to make my father proud of me. And we were, my father died a few years ago, but he was 75. He says to me, you know, i love you. It was the first time he had ever said that. And he says and im proud of you. That was the first time he ever said that. He said im proud that youre my son. And im proud just as proud that im your father. And that was my hero. You know, tell you a quick story. We got zeros on the clock. Got to be quick. I got my first 100,000 c
Before we talk about white, black, whatever. Us and thate becomes important in y being a man, because if i have t charity in my soul or the wisdom to recognize goodness in people, then im a man, a man of god, ay man of trying to do the right thing. Therefore, nothing you can do or say to me will change my attitude about my manhood. Over the years, the biggest n problem that we have had in this country is whenever you stand ue for the right thing, even though its for the overall populous, c people take the attitude that s yout are a racist or they call t an opposite racist. So i wanted to make that point, because when you say where are we today, well the one guy that i depend on most, young man that juf just won the super bowl and who is a tremendous human being and has gotten through troubledthe times and understands what we f are doing is ray lewis. Ray, i think, can be the leadert of a lot of these young individuals who need that leadership, who want to learn t what to do and how to
Famously went to the university of North Carolina and played basketball with the championship basketball team. Election, he famously channelled al greens im so in love withe you. It became the number one phone ringer across the country after that. I have a question for you, do you think he would have projected the same cachet, charisma and cool if he had been into bowling and had channelled again campbells the wichita lineman just as a guy who i understands the entertainment en im speechless. To i think everybody else would have been too if he would have ] sung the wichita lineman. I dont know how the answer that. And i almost dont know what youre talking about. That. Okay. All right. Re enough about that. Were down to the last 15 seconds. I want toeti Say Something te you, please. Obviously between one of my lifetime best friends and a guy that ive known 50 years. I got no business being here okay . Be but i thought it was such an honor for me to be invited o because all ive ever trie