R.I.P. Dr. Jack Ramsay

Jack Ramsay Passes Away At 89
Apr 28, 2014 10:27 AM EDT
Jack Ramsay has passed away at the age of 89.

Ramsay led the Portland Trail Blazers to the 1977 NBA championship before becoming one of the league's best broadcasters.

"Dr. Jack Ramsay has passed," ESPN spokesman Chris LaPlaca wrote on Twitter early Monday. "A rare man. Loved and respected by all. Fascinating life well lived. An inspiration to so many."

Ramsay was diagnosed with melanoma in 2004 and later battled growths and tumors that spread to his legs, lungs and brain, then later fought prostate cancer and most recently a marrow syndrome.

Ramsay competed in at least 20 triathlons during his life, worked out regularly into his 80s, even as he battled the various forms of cancer that he was stricken with.

Via AP



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Got to speak to him many times during my 2 year stint at College near Buffalo in nearby Geneseo. Man had a couple of nice teams there (Buffalo Braves) in the mid 70's.

Considering that was nearly 40 years ago........means he would have been 49-50 then. Memory would have told me he was older than that then.
perhaps it was just being bald.  Or those god awful leisure suits that were the thing back then.

Easy man to speak with, always had something to say.

beat

RIP Dr Jack Ramsey.

His 1977 title team in Portland was one of my favorite non-Celtic champs. That half court offense of constant movement was a beautiful thing to behold.

Another of the old guard gone. He'll be missed.

Providence college vs St Joseph univ. Joe Mullaney vs Jack Ramsey back in the late 50's and early 60's. Can't recall any specific moments of the games but do remember Chris Clark, the Providence College radio announcer, praising the skill of Frank Ramsay the coach. Even in those early years his reputation as an outstanding coach was fully recognized.
swish

Sloopjohnb wrote:RIP Dr Jack Ramsey.

His 1977 title team in Portland was one of my favorite non-Celtic champs.  That half court offense of constant movement was a beautiful thing to behold.

the dawning of the high post offense.

Was fortunate to interview him in 1982 as one of five coaches I spoke with for my statistical rating system and found him amazingly gracious, accommodating and obviously extremely insightful.  

I was a huge Blazer fan in the 70's because of Bill Walton.  His injury when Portland was 50-10 after 60 games of the '77-'78 season and the Blazers were attempting to defend their NBA title with an even stronger team than they had the year before was just devastating to that franchise and city.  Cut short a probable dynasty.

Dr. Jack will be seriously missed.  He supposedly passed away early this morning, just hours after his Blazers won one of their most important playoff games since 2000, beating the Rockets in OT and taking a 3 games to 1 lead in their series.  I would love to think he saw a few minutes of that before he died and was pleased by it.

Except for the extremely sloppy ball handling in the third quarter. That might have been what killed him.

Joking aside, what a class act.