NBA Great Bob Lanier Honored For Lifelong Achievements

On Monday, Jan. 21, as part of the NBA's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Hall of Famer Bob Lanier will be honored for his longtime contributions to civil and human rights at the Memphis Grizzlies - Chicago Bulls game in Memphis, Tenn. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will also be honored.

Lanier, one of the all-time greats, is an eight-time NBA All-Star who scored 19,248 points and pulled down 9,698 rebounds. For the past 10 years, as special assistant to the NBA Commissioner David Stern, Lanier has been the league's good-will ambassador, spreading a message of hope and education to people around the world.

The elder statesman recalls traveling through the south when he was nine years old. Humiliatingly, he and his father had to go into a restaurant via the back door, a "Colored Only" entrance. Lanier had heard discussions about discrimination, but had never experienced it until that day.

After retiring in 1984, Lanier began working for the NBA four years later. He has participated in a number of community outreach programs for the past decade -- for example, taking a lead with NBA Cares, the league's global outreach program, and the Read to Achieve program.

Lanier was a founder of Basketball Without Borders, which runs basketball clinics around the world. This previous summer, he led the NBA's 12-city tour, organizing day camps to teach kids basketball and life skills. Lanier was recently in Miami for a volunteer day, serving food at a rescue mission. He has also run the league's rookie transition program for year, and is the national chairman of the NBA's Stay In School initiative. Lanier gives motivational speeches on education, family development and health.

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