It was March 30, 1966; friends and I were attending an important, NBA playoff game at that famous, old arena in Cincinnati – the Gardens. One of the Royals who suited up – but was not slated for much action – was a player named Jack Twyman.
Twyman was the team’s star when the franchise was located in Rochester, NY. He made All NBA six times, averaged 31 points per game one year and had a long career. But he was now in his eleventh year and had to make way for the Royals new stars Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas and Wayne Embry. It was a strong team – so strong that they were leading the famed Boston Celtics in the playoff series two games to one and were favored to apply the clincher that evening.
Getting tickets would not be easy. I was the play-by-play man for the Kenyon Lords of the Ohio Conference but would likely need some kind of NBA connection to obtain seats. Fortunately, the team’s coach who accompanied us – Bob Harrison – was a nine year league veteran who had played for several championship Laker teams.
The man who obliged us with tickets was the Royals general manager James “Pepper” Wilson. His daughter, a longtime Kendall resident and activist, Beth Wilson Simon, is also someone I should thank for the team’s generosity. Her dad Pepper was well known in NBA circles, and the team had success both in Cincinnati and their previous home in Rochester.
While no longer one of the premier NBA players, Jack Twyman was better known as the man who was the benefactor and guardian for another Royals player, Maurice Stokes, a standout player from tiny St. Francis College (Pa.). One of the league’s dominant players his first three years and destined for stardom, Stokes suffered a serious head injury during the final game of the 1958 season, lost consciousness briefly, then was sent back into the game.
Several days later on a trip home to Cincinnati following a playoff game, Stokes had multiple seizures and had to be hospitalized. The diagnosis was post-traumatic encephalopathy, a severe brain injury which kept him paralyzed for the rest of his life.
Without medical benefits or a pension, Stokes was facing medical bills of over $100,000 per year. Jack Twyman immediately stepped in and took charge of Maurice Stokes’ care. He organized charity events and arranged for NBA exhibition games whose proceeds went towards Stokes’ treatment.
But the determined Twyman didn’t stop there. There was very little in state laws which could help Stokes’ cause, so Twyman had to battle the Ohio legislature for years. Eventually a law was enacted which enabled Stokes to gain workman’s compensation for the accident.
For the selfless effort and devotion on behalf of his friend, the NBA established the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award in 2013. Stokes died in 1970 at the age of 36. Both Twyman, who died in 2012, and Stokes were inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
