http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/02/s...ndo-woolridge-former-nba-star-dies-at-52.html
June 1, 2012
Orlando Woolridge, N.B.A. Star and W.N.B.A. Coach, Dies at 52
By RICHARD GOLDSTEIN
Orlando Woolridge, who electrified crowds with his freewheeling play — dashing upcourt, lobbing alley-oop passes and slamming dunks — through 13 N.B.A. seasons, died on Thursday in Mansfield, La. He was 52.
He died at his parents’ home, according to the Desoto Parish chief deputy coroner, Billy Locke, who said Woolridge had had a chronic heart condition.
Woolridge, at 6 feet 9 inches, starred for Notre Dame and then went to the Chicago Bulls as a first-round draft pick in 1981. He played on the Bulls with Michael Jordan and on the Los Angeles Lakers with Magic Johnson, as well as on five other N.B.A. teams. While with the Nets in 1988, he admitted to a cocaine problem, entered a treatment center and never played for them again.
Woolridge was often viewed as caring little for defense, but when he coached the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women’s National Basketball Association in the late 1990s — the first former N.B.A. player to coach in that league — he insisted that he could teach an all-around game.
“I was an offensive-minded player because that’s what I did,” he told The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif. “But I was always a student of the game from an analytical perspective. My defensive principles are very sound. Maybe I might not have used them on the court, but they do work.”
Woolridge, who was named the Sparks’ interim head coach in 1998, led them to a 20-12 record in 1999 with the interim label removed. It was the team’s best mark in its three-year history, but he was fired at the season’s end for what management called philosophical differences.
Orlando Vernada Woolridge was born on Dec. 16, 1959, in Bernice, La., near the Arkansas border. He played for four seasons at Notre Dame under Coach Digger Phelps, who said that Woolridge’s cousin Willis Reed, a Hall of Fame center for the Knicks, had recommended him.
In February 1981, a Woolridge shot from about 18 feet gave Notre Dame a 57-56 victory over top-ranked Virginia and its 7-foot-4-inch center Ralph Sampson, ending the Cavaliers’ 28-game winning streak.
Woolridge played five seasons for the Bulls, then joined the Nets before the 1986-87 season.
In February 1988, he missed a game at Philadelphia and then a home game against Seattle the next night, his whereabouts unknown. He phoned the Nets the evening of the second game to say that after missing the team bus to Philadelphia, he was driving there when his Jeep ran off the New Jersey Turnpike and he became disoriented.
A few days later, Woolridge admitted to the N.B.A.’s security director that he had a cocaine problem, and he entered a treatment program in Southern California. In March 1988, N.B.A. commissioner David Stern fined the Nets $25,000 for failing to tell the league about an incident during the previous fall’s training camp in which Dave Wohl, the coach at the time, reported finding Woolridge’s hotel room disheveled. Nets management said that it had spoken with Woolridge about the matter and that he had denied using drugs when asked.
Woolridge signed a multiyear, free-agent contract with the Lakers after the 1987-88 season. He averaged 16 points a game for his N.B.A. career.
In addition to his parents, Larnceen and Mattie Woolridge, he is survived by his sons, Renaldo, Zachary and Royce, who played basketball at Tennessee, Princeton and Kansas; his daughter, Tiana, a women’s volleyball player at Princeton; and a sister, Vanessa Duplessis. Another cousin, Natasha Watley, is an Olympic gold medal winner in women’s softball.
When Woolridge joined the Lakers, ready for a new start, he was thrilled by their wide-open game. “I just love it when we go up in the transition game, up and down the court, Magic looking for the open guy,” The Associated Press quoted him as telling the Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn. “I get excited when we start playing like that. That’s the way I love playing.”
June 1, 2012
Orlando Woolridge, N.B.A. Star and W.N.B.A. Coach, Dies at 52
By RICHARD GOLDSTEIN
Orlando Woolridge, who electrified crowds with his freewheeling play — dashing upcourt, lobbing alley-oop passes and slamming dunks — through 13 N.B.A. seasons, died on Thursday in Mansfield, La. He was 52.
He died at his parents’ home, according to the Desoto Parish chief deputy coroner, Billy Locke, who said Woolridge had had a chronic heart condition.
Woolridge, at 6 feet 9 inches, starred for Notre Dame and then went to the Chicago Bulls as a first-round draft pick in 1981. He played on the Bulls with Michael Jordan and on the Los Angeles Lakers with Magic Johnson, as well as on five other N.B.A. teams. While with the Nets in 1988, he admitted to a cocaine problem, entered a treatment center and never played for them again.
Woolridge was often viewed as caring little for defense, but when he coached the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women’s National Basketball Association in the late 1990s — the first former N.B.A. player to coach in that league — he insisted that he could teach an all-around game.
“I was an offensive-minded player because that’s what I did,” he told The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif. “But I was always a student of the game from an analytical perspective. My defensive principles are very sound. Maybe I might not have used them on the court, but they do work.”
Woolridge, who was named the Sparks’ interim head coach in 1998, led them to a 20-12 record in 1999 with the interim label removed. It was the team’s best mark in its three-year history, but he was fired at the season’s end for what management called philosophical differences.
Orlando Vernada Woolridge was born on Dec. 16, 1959, in Bernice, La., near the Arkansas border. He played for four seasons at Notre Dame under Coach Digger Phelps, who said that Woolridge’s cousin Willis Reed, a Hall of Fame center for the Knicks, had recommended him.
In February 1981, a Woolridge shot from about 18 feet gave Notre Dame a 57-56 victory over top-ranked Virginia and its 7-foot-4-inch center Ralph Sampson, ending the Cavaliers’ 28-game winning streak.
Woolridge played five seasons for the Bulls, then joined the Nets before the 1986-87 season.
In February 1988, he missed a game at Philadelphia and then a home game against Seattle the next night, his whereabouts unknown. He phoned the Nets the evening of the second game to say that after missing the team bus to Philadelphia, he was driving there when his Jeep ran off the New Jersey Turnpike and he became disoriented.
A few days later, Woolridge admitted to the N.B.A.’s security director that he had a cocaine problem, and he entered a treatment program in Southern California. In March 1988, N.B.A. commissioner David Stern fined the Nets $25,000 for failing to tell the league about an incident during the previous fall’s training camp in which Dave Wohl, the coach at the time, reported finding Woolridge’s hotel room disheveled. Nets management said that it had spoken with Woolridge about the matter and that he had denied using drugs when asked.
Woolridge signed a multiyear, free-agent contract with the Lakers after the 1987-88 season. He averaged 16 points a game for his N.B.A. career.
In addition to his parents, Larnceen and Mattie Woolridge, he is survived by his sons, Renaldo, Zachary and Royce, who played basketball at Tennessee, Princeton and Kansas; his daughter, Tiana, a women’s volleyball player at Princeton; and a sister, Vanessa Duplessis. Another cousin, Natasha Watley, is an Olympic gold medal winner in women’s softball.
When Woolridge joined the Lakers, ready for a new start, he was thrilled by their wide-open game. “I just love it when we go up in the transition game, up and down the court, Magic looking for the open guy,” The Associated Press quoted him as telling the Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn. “I get excited when we start playing like that. That’s the way I love playing.”
