Past stars of the NBA come out for charity golf event

By Kyle Jorrey jorrey@theacorn.com

NBA greats Moses Malone, Rick Barry and Maurice Lucas headlined a group of almost 20 former professional basketball players that came out to the North Ranch Country Club in Thousand Oaks for the inaugural SuperStars for Special Olympics Golf Classic this past Monday.

The event, which benefited both the Tri-Valley Special Olympics and the Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center, featured a chance for local golfers to spend a day on one of the area’s most beautiful courses with some of the most colorful stars of the NBA past.

Former New Jersey Net Darwin Cook, who is involved in a number of charities and even coaches a Special Olympics basketball team, said the players generally jump at opportunities such as these to reunite with one another and have some fun for a good cause.

"Today isn’t about competing, it’s about having fun and giving back," said Cook, who worked with the Special Olympics to help organize the event. "A lot of the special athletes today might not know who we are, but just to come out here and see the smiles we can put on their faces, is everything for us."

Some other familiar SoCal names to attend were A.C. Green, Duane Cooper, Keith Erickson and Don Ford of the Los Angeles Lakers, and Ed Ratleff of the Houston Rockets and the 1972 U.S. Olympic basketball team.

Ratleff, who said he’s been attending Special Olympic events in Long Beach for a number of years, said professional athletes have a unique relationship with Special Olympians.

"These kids face a challenge tougher than any of us faced, but yet they’re out their doing it and competing," Ratleff said. "They get so much joy just from playing the game . . . you should see the smiles on these kids faces when they get one of those medals. They are priceless."

The event featured a full day of golf in which attendees got paired with different NBA players, many of whom are much-better comedians than they are golfers.

"If there’s anything these guys can do, it’s make people laugh," Cook said. "No matter how you’re golfing, they’ll make sure you have a good time. . . . Now as for their golf game, that’s another story."

Former Detroit Piston Eric Money, who shared plenty of laughs before the event, said that former NBA players have a special brotherhood.

"It’s like being together at some old bar for a class reunion," Money said. "You see some guys you talk to all the time and some guys you haven’t seen in 10 years."