Got up this morning at 4.30 am to take my wife to the airport.She is us off to Austin for 9 months...went to the front porch and picked up my newspaper for a quick read....and there I saw the headline " NY Knick Dean Meminger found dead in Manhattan Hotel".
Now I'm sure many of you don't know him but some of the old timers here should...he was a NYC HS star at Rice HS....went on to play for Al McGuire at Marquette.
Then was the No 1 draft choice of the Knicks in 1971...was a role player and backup guard for the Knicks...lighting quick with the ball and on defense.Always dribbled with his head down so he didn't see the his teammates on the floor..but was so fast....he won the famous game 7 vs the Celtics in the semifinals in Boston...number 7....only played a few years for the Knicks...had no shot what so ever...but was as exciting as ever when ever Red Holtzman would put him in a game...
Was into drugs big time after his NBA career...cocaine,crack,etc...became a drug councilor and that is the 1st time I talked to him...he wanted to come to my HS and talk to our kids at an assembly around the mid-80's. One of my basketball players lived next door to Dean in NYC...so he was the connection...I tried to set up a few dates and set up transportation and give him a fee...Dean wanted $1,000 for the day. I told him that we didn't have that kind the money for that. I could give him around $300 and we would pick him up and drop him off...he said " No way"....I thanked him and a few weeks went by. Got another call from Dean and he said he would take $500.. I told him thank's again but we were doing something different...maybe next year call us.....about 3 days later Dean calls me again...He will do it for $300...I was a little slow back then but realized he needs the money.Looking back on our phone conversations you could see he was desperate...I told Dean call me next September and maybe we can work something out.
About a month later at an Athletic Directors meeting I mentioned my story about Dean...One of my AD buddies also had talked to Dean....they sent him $300 as a retainer and would pay him another $300 the day he spoke....Dean never showed up and they never got their money back...word spread all over the HS's in the metro area that Meminger was unreliable...later on stories broke in the NY papers the he was addicted.....
They found him yesterday in a hotel and it looks like he had a sizure doing coke...
Watched him celebrate the Knicks 40th anniversary of the 1973 championship team this year on TV....hard to believe that is the last year the Knicks won the NBA crown... but....
I want to remember No 7 dribbling down the court passing the other 9 players and hitting a layup...
Now I'm sure many of you don't know him but some of the old timers here should...he was a NYC HS star at Rice HS....went on to play for Al McGuire at Marquette.
Then was the No 1 draft choice of the Knicks in 1971...was a role player and backup guard for the Knicks...lighting quick with the ball and on defense.Always dribbled with his head down so he didn't see the his teammates on the floor..but was so fast....he won the famous game 7 vs the Celtics in the semifinals in Boston...number 7....only played a few years for the Knicks...had no shot what so ever...but was as exciting as ever when ever Red Holtzman would put him in a game...
Was into drugs big time after his NBA career...cocaine,crack,etc...became a drug councilor and that is the 1st time I talked to him...he wanted to come to my HS and talk to our kids at an assembly around the mid-80's. One of my basketball players lived next door to Dean in NYC...so he was the connection...I tried to set up a few dates and set up transportation and give him a fee...Dean wanted $1,000 for the day. I told him that we didn't have that kind the money for that. I could give him around $300 and we would pick him up and drop him off...he said " No way"....I thanked him and a few weeks went by. Got another call from Dean and he said he would take $500.. I told him thank's again but we were doing something different...maybe next year call us.....about 3 days later Dean calls me again...He will do it for $300...I was a little slow back then but realized he needs the money.Looking back on our phone conversations you could see he was desperate...I told Dean call me next September and maybe we can work something out.
About a month later at an Athletic Directors meeting I mentioned my story about Dean...One of my AD buddies also had talked to Dean....they sent him $300 as a retainer and would pay him another $300 the day he spoke....Dean never showed up and they never got their money back...word spread all over the HS's in the metro area that Meminger was unreliable...later on stories broke in the NY papers the he was addicted.....
They found him yesterday in a hotel and it looks like he had a sizure doing coke...
Watched him celebrate the Knicks 40th anniversary of the 1973 championship team this year on TV....hard to believe that is the last year the Knicks won the NBA crown... but....
I want to remember No 7 dribbling down the court passing the other 9 players and hitting a layup...
