On June 21st,
a group of former NBA greats will gather at the New York law firm of Herrick,
Feinstein LLP to talk about the charitable work being done by the New York
Chapter of the National Basketball Retired Players Association. The Legends in attendance are expected to
include Earl “The Pearl” Monroe and Tiny Archibald – both Hall of Famers and
both counted among the league’s “50 Greatest Players” – and Len Elmore, whose post-basketball
career has been highlighted by graduation from Harvard Law School and a teaching
post at Columbia University.
The hardwood
heroes will be joined by an elite cadre of legal and business professionals. The event, sponsored by Herrick, is being
staged by the Wealth & Values Initiative (WVI); a collection of legacy
families co-founded by Peter Cuneo and Jeremiah Schnee and operating at the
crossroads of investment and philanthropy.
The WVI has previously feted a collection of boldfaced names including
NHL star Henrik Lundqvist, broadcast journalist Soledad O’Brien, global
basketball icon Dikembe Mutombo, music industry titan Kenny Gamble, and Medal
of Honor recipient Jack Jacobs.
Among all those accomplished and dedicated individuals, one might need to look hard to find Tom Hoover. Despite standing 6’9” and still cutting an athletic figure at age 77, Hoover often appears to prefer the background to the spotlight. Just as he did throughout a seven-year professional basketball career, the Washington DC native and New York resident is most at home doing the little things that will lead to success.
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| Tom Hoover ... then and now |
That
attitude has served Hoover well throughout his life. The sixth pick in the 1963 NBA Draft out of
Villanova, he embarked on a journey that saw him play for seven teams in three
leagues. Toiling in the era of unspoken
quotas, (“play two at home, three on the road, and four if you’re behind”)
Hoover produced solid numbers and always did the hard work defensively and on
the boards. He began his basketball
odyssey with the NBA’s New York Knicks and ended it with the ABA’s New York
Nets where he got his first chance to start regularly and averaged a
double-double playing for Hall of Famer Max Zaslofsky alongside players like
Levern Tart, Willie Worsley, and Bob Verga.
Along the way, he also logged time with the Denver Rockets, St. Louis
Hawks, Minneapolis Pipers, and Houston Mavericks. It’s a testament to his unbending will and dedication that he has outlasted six of the seven teams and two of the three leagues he
played for.
Today,
Hoover serves as President of the NBRPA’s New York Chapter, and he sees his
mission clearly. “We believe we’re here to
help our fellow man whenever and wherever possible,” according to Hoover. “We commit our time, names, energy,
expertise, and patience in an ongoing effort to make an everyday difference for
those who are less fortunate. When our own members need help, we
negotiate benefits giving those who are uninsured vital access to
healthcare and coverage. We also stock food
pantries every week, organize holiday parties, and make our presence
and our compassion known at domestic violence shelters, AIDS treatment
facilities, homeless shelters, youth centers, parks, and school graduations.
The same discipline and determination that allowed us to excel on the
basketball court has translated into our more important mission in life.”
That can-do
attitude was shaped over a long and varied career which saw him achieve success
in diverse fields and posts. Following
his retirement from basketball, Hoover worked with legendary SOLAR Records
founders Don Cornelius and Dick Griffey where he was road manager for the likes of
Natalie Cole and Richard Pryor; served as an anti-poverty crusader in the
administration of New York City mayor John Lindsay; held senior posts at the
New York State Boxing Commission; and was a long-tenured executive at the New York area grocery chain Fairway.
Through each of those iterations, he remained active in the community with a special focus on kids and those who needed help most. Those targeted programs pervade his work today.
“We played before
basketball players made big money,” said Hoover. “So we can’t just write checks. But that doesn’t mean the work doesn’t need
to get done. When Tiny Archibald and I
went to Africa we saw a tremendous need to bring water and school supplies to
villages in Mali and Somalia and wanted to help.”
He continued by saying, “Tiny told me, ‘You know we don’t have the money to do
what we need to do’ and I told him, ‘I know.
But we’re going to do it anyway'.”
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| Visiting Africa with Mutombo |
Those
gathered at Herrick on June 21st for the event called “A Night Among
The Legends” will get an up-close look at the work being done in Africa as well
as the dozens of active projects closer to home. It’s the hope of all involved in the event,
that, by bringing together leaders in the legal and business fields, philanthropists and
the Legends, themselves, that work will move closer to completion.
“It’s an
important night for us,” said Hoover. “We
have plans, we have a budget, and we need partners with that same desire to
help that we have.” Of course, the event
(which will coincide with the NBA Draft) will leave plenty of time for less
serious pursuits including a “Hoops Talk” panel, photos, charity auction, the
Art of Paul Lempa, and plenty of time for casual networking.
Anyone interested in attending can visit THE EVENT WEBSITE HERE.
