I was apprehensive about embarking on a trip right into the heart of a Middle Eastern conflict that we hear about every day. This wasn’t my first trip to the region. I was not only a player for a Utah Jazz team that made it to the NBA Finals, I had also played on teams in Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Israel. It surprises most people when I tell l them that my most enjoyable basketball experience outside of the NBA occurred in Israel.
So this past summer, my colleagues and I put our concerns aside and formed a 13-member delegation of former NBA players who visited Israel as part of a seven-day educational seminar. This event was hosted by AIEF (American Israel Education Fund), the charitable organization affiliated with AIPAC (American Israeli Public Affairs Committee) in collaboration with the NBRPA (National Basketball Retired Players Association). The purpose of the trip was to bring a group of highly successful former NBA stars to Israel to learn more about the US/Israel relationship and how that impacts the political climate in the Middle East.
When I glanced at the itinerary for the trip, I noticed that we would also be visiting many historical sites that hold religious significance to Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths. Additionally, we would be visiting geographic areas such as the Golan Heights, Gaza Strip and West Bank. Accompanying me on the trip were former NBA players that I knew such as Danny Schayes, Willie Burton, Cedric Ceballos, and former teammate Dale Ellis as well as my colleague with ESPN Stephen Bardo. Ballers on the trip that I had not met before were Joe Barry Carroll, Sedric Toney, Richard Barnett, Spencer Haywood, Marvin Roberts, Sam Vincent and Kenny Battle.
“Why are we here?” was the first question asked by Cedric Ceballos at our first briefing at the Tel Aviv Hilton after arriving from our 10-hour flight from JFK. The best answer that we were given was that being prominent former NBA players (for this trip) also meant we were Global Ambassadors. Of what, I don’t think we would fully comprehend until the trip ended.
Our first couple of days in Israel was mostly comprised of various meetings with policy makers or high-level government figures in the Israeli or U.S. government in order to set the stage for the days to follow and to open our minds to the various levels of the Middle East conflict. I was pretty impressed when we were introduced to various speakers who came from the US Embassy in Israel as well as the Knesset, which is similar to the U.S. Congress.
On the third day of our trip, we were asked to address the Israeli Knesset committee on Education and Sports. I was honored to be one of the speakers asked to address the Knesset, especially when we were told that we were the first group brought over by AIEF to have this honor. The testimony was carried live on the equivalent of Israeli C-Span and after Willie Burton, Dr. Dick Barnett and I spoke, every one of the former NBA players present was able to introduce themselves to the Knesset. It was one of the most special moments of my life.
We then joined forces with Peace Players International and gave a basketball clinic to Israeli Jews and Palestinians....together! You could see the expanding smiles of our group of former NBA’ers once the familiar sounds of the hardwood mixed with basketballs could be heard reverberating throughout the gym. If it weren’t for the gigantic size of my NBA Alumni brethren, you would be hard pressed to distinguish between the campers and counselors as many of the former NBA greats engaged in one-on-one or shooting contests with the overjoyed campers. To see smiles and hear the laughter, but most importantly, to feel the excitement that these Palestinian and Israeli Jews showed while playing this great game we know as basketball, was beyond awesome.
Time as we know it stopped; hatred and all of its manifestations were no more, and all that remained was the love of basketball, the thrill of competition, and the bond that teamwork and the participation in sports can bring. Unfortunately, our time together eventually ended and to the sadness of all involved, we ran the last of the drills. As with most practices throughout the world, we all met at center court with our hands in the middle and with the count of three, yelled “TEAMWORK” in unison. Why couldn’t life be this easy? Why couldn’t life be this much fun all the time?
We ended the night by learning a little bit of the Muslim culture when we broke fast with the traditional Ramadan fast breaking meal of Iftar with the Israeli Jews and Palestinian campers. The meal was more than filling, but the significance of the meal with all the participants really stood out to me.
One of the more somber moments of our trip came when we visited Yad Vashem which is the Holocaust Memorial Museum. You could not escape the passion mixed with pain of our tour guide while she led us through the maze of pictures and artifacts of the Holocaust. It wasn’t until we had left and I was speaking to one of the members of AIPAC on the trip with us that she mentioned to me that this visit was the first time she had ever seen any of the guards smile when they were taking pictures with our group. I remembered the first question asked when we landed of “why are we here?” and I couldn’t help but wonder if that was a small part.
We all fancied ourselves as Ambassadors of Goodwill or Ambassadors of Sport, but when it all boils down to it, if for just that brief moment we were Ambassadors of Joy. The same joy we brought to millions as we competed as basketball players in the NBA. Basketball and really sports knows no religion, culture or creed and brings together all with that one common thread, the LOVE of the game. Regardless if you are playing or rooting for a particular side, once the whistle is blown there is only one heartbeat, one thought. If you win or lose you do that as a team and the bond created in pursuit of that goal, lasts a lifetime. These are the life lessons basketball taught to me and these are the life lessons I wish basketball could teach to all.
Stephen Howard played four professional seasons in the NBA. He is a currently an analyst for the New Orleans Hornets. This is his first feature for AQ.
