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By Bethany Bradsher
When Dr. Joel Freeman first entertained the idea of becoming
a chaplain in the NBA, he was a minister with almost no
interest in basketball. He had grown up in the hockey-mad
region of Alberta, Canada, in a small town of 2,000 -- with
nine hockey rinks. His only connection with the NBA was an
acquaintance who was a chaplain for the Boston Celtics.
Little could Freeman have imagined, when he agreed to lead
chapel services for the Washington Bullets in the late
‘70s, that his 19 years of friendships with professional
athletes would be a springboard to an extraordinary range of
experiences -- leading seminars for leaders of Granada and
Nigeria, advising business and entertainment executives and
becoming an insightful outside observer of the
African-American experience.
“I learned a lot about human nature during that time,”
said Freeman, who now runs a Maryland organization called
The Freeman Institute. “We talk about down-and-outers.
What about the up-and-outers? What about the person who, it
seems, has the tiger by the tail, but internally is not able
to handle the emotional pressure of success?”
According to all accounts, Freeman was only the second
person to take a chaplain’s role in the history of the
NBA, and there were times in the early years when he
wondered why he had volunteered at all, he said. After the
initial excitement of rubbing elbows with famous athletes
wore off, he had a period where he became disillusioned,
viewing some of the players as inconsistent, spoiled and
shallow -- and he wondered whether his presence could make a
difference. Was he wasting his time? This, he says, is a
predictable phase any pro sports chaplain goes through in
developing a genuine ministry. |
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By about his third or fourth year with
the team, something had changed within Freeman and the
way the players viewed him. They became more trusting, and
he persisted in just spending time with them and giving them
something invaluable -- a confidant who put no conditions on
them and didn’t try to sponge off of their celebrity
status.
“The players, they can instantly tell if someone is a fan
or a genuine friend with no strings attached,” he said.
“I really fell in love with the guys, just with their
hearts and enjoyed helping them work through the things they
were dealing with.”
The truth, Freeman said, is that NBA players are often
lonely and desperate for meaning beyond basketball. Unlike
football and baseball, where most of the players are of
average size and are absorbed by dozens of teammates --
professional basketball players, because of their stature
and their status, can never be anonymous. "They can
draw a crowd wherever they go, but what do they say once the
crowd is assembled?" Freeman's passion is to help
athletes to develop deeper reservoirs of mental, emotional
and spiritual wisdom so that they have something of value to
communicate when called upon.
While he was still serving the team that is now the Wizards,
Freeman started leading seminars about teamwork and
leadership and providing conflict resolution and support to
leaders in government, business and entertainment. He
retired as chaplain in 1998 so that he could focus on tasks
like his recent trip to Nigeria, where he spoke to lawmakers
and other groups about leadership and the unique role of the
black man in society.
The racial emphasis of Freeman’s work has taken much of
his energy lately because of his fifth book, “Return to
Glory.” Sales have been brisk for the book, subtitled
“The Powerful Stirring of the Black Man,” despite
critics who thought that a white Canadian couldn’t
possibly unearth the African-American experience.
Endorsed by the likes of Bill Cosby, Julius Erving and Ben
Carson, the book, which was co-written by black business
executive Don Griffin, is being made into a 52-minute film
narrated by former Los Angeles Laker Adrian Branch and has
served as the inspiration for M.C. Hammer’s latest album.
Freeman and his associates hope to donate the film to every
juvenile detention center, prison and school in America,
because they think that young black men, in particular, and
all kids, will benefit from the film’s analysis of African
achievements and its prescription for racial healing in
communities still broken by prejudice and misunderstanding.
For more information about Dr. Joel Freeman’s work, visit www.freemaninstitute.com
or www.returntoglory.org
.
Article in The York Daily Record -- York, Pennsylvania
(February 20, 2002) |
Courtesy of The Freeman Institute
"Dealing
With People Who Drive You Crazy!"®
The
Freeman Institute™
1103 Burkhardt Lane, Severn, Maryland 21144
TEL 410-729-7800 CELL 410-991-9718 FAX
410-729-0353
EMAIL info@freemaninstitute.com
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