Obituaries can tell someone a lot about the impact of a person’s life. The impact may have been to an individual, to many people, to an industry, to science, to religion, or those relatives left behind.
Reading the obituary of legendary Georgetown Hoyas Basketball Coach John Thompson is quite enlightening in contrast to someone by the same name in MN House District 67A who made the news in August 2020 for terrorizing a town called Hugo Minnesota.
Both men have similar causes to help out Black Men & Women, but their approach is starkly different from one another.
Coach John Thompson and Patrick Ewing
Coach John Thompson
John Robert Thompson Jr was born on September 2, 1941 and passed away on August 30th, 2020. His bio is quite extensive so here’s some highlights:
- Played Basketball for the Providence College Friars
- Earned Honorable Mention All-American Honors in 1964
- Played 3 seasons in the NBA for the Boston Celtics both were Championship Seasons from 1964-67, back up to Bill Russell
- Became a High School Coach in his hometown of Washington DC, after being picked in an expansion draft by the Chicago Bulls, he retired not wanting to relocate to Chicago
- Went on to Coach the Georgetown Hoyas Basketball Team for 27 years.
- In his 3rd season with Georgetown his team qualified for the NCAA Tournament the first time for Georgetown since 1943
- In 1984 with the help of one of his star players Patrick Ewing Thompson won the NCAA Basketball Tournament, the First Black Coach ever to do so.
- His players read like a who’s who of the NBA: Patrick Ewing, Dikembe Mutombo, Allen Iverson, Sleepy Floyd, Alonzo Mourning,
- Assistant Head Coach for the US National Team which won a Gold Medal in the 1976 Olympics, and later was the Head Coach of the 1988 Team earning the Bronze Medal
- After resigning from his Coaching Duties in January 1999, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
- Had a Radio show after he retired
- Was a Presidential Consultant for urban affairs at Georgetown
- Was a lifelong Catholic
- Helped disadvantaged students both white and black
Not only did he lead young Black Men to success on the basketball court but he gave them the ability to lead others, to look beyond their days on the court. He even protected them from a drug lord named Ray Edmond. He had a sit down with Edmund. Edmund’s gang had been involved in 40 homicides in DC. Coach Thompson rose up to his 6’10” frame and proceeded to tell off the drug lord. Edmund never bothered his players again.
He was a leader who fought and worked hard to win a lot of awards and accolades, though seeing his players succeed off the court was probably more enjoyable.
John Thompson Candidate for MN House District 67A
What did he do to gain notoriety?
Nothing
…but terrorize State Legislators with threats and went to Hugo MN to terrorize a neighborhood.
Update: Now he was voted in with 70+ % of the vote.
Update: His eligibility to be a State Representative is questionable because he renewed a Wisconsin Drivers License in November 2020–he has maintained the license for 18 years. What other surprises has he not revealed?
DFL endorsed 67A Candidate John Thompson didn’t have to attend a Forum thanks to the LWV St Paul