039 - Don Dee

I-N-D-A-I-N-A … Large block letters. Starting from top left shoulder, stretching down to just below the hip … Stitched straight down the front of his blue-and-gold ’68–69 Pacers short-sleeve button-down warmup … Wore it for two home blowouts: 141–129 over Kentucky on Jan. 20, ’69, and 140–117 vs. Miami two days later … Seated on the bench. Flat-top squared, bulky brace swallowing his left knee. Moment frozen by photographer Jim Young of the Indianapolis News—splashed across the next morning’s sports section … Team fixed it fast. Didn’t bother to spin it. Hoped it would be long forgotten—almost got away with it … When he’d shed the warmup—typo or not: Brought DEE-fense. His name. His game … Chant didn’t start with him. Story goes it was born in the Bronx in the mid-’50s—by fans of the New York football Giants … Repurposed a decade later in Indianapolis—this time for one player: No. 40 … “I love to play defense. It’s hard work and there’s not much glamour to it, but it’s satisfying and it means you play.” … His secret: “Anticipation is probably the most important thing. You also have to hustle like the devil, and you have to cheat. That’s why I’m in foul trouble all the time.” … Pacers coach Slick Leonard raved about him. Called him “the best defensive forward in the ABA.” Then doubled down: “Dee is damned near as good a defensive forward as I’ve ever seen. I’d rate him the class of Tom Sanders of the Boston Celtics.” … Stats to back the claim? Blocks, steals, opponent field goal percentage, points allowed. Nobody knows. Not tracked—neither league did. What was, sort of? Games against the Oaks’ Rick Barry, the league’s top scorer at 34 a night. Helped hold Barry to under 20 in their two meetings—37 combined. But exact matchup data wouldn’t be available until the next century … Mostly a reserve. Though Slick penciled him into starting lineup early … Per-36 for the stats that were counted? Would’ve put up a double-double: 12.1 points, 10.6 rebounds. But for the 6.5 fouls … Minutes came with pain. Pacers GM Mike Storen: “He had to have the knee drained before every game and it almost made you sick to see that big needle stuck in.” … Playing time dwindled as knee and ankle injuries piled up down the stretch. “I sorta gave up after the injuries.” … Had surgery during the off-season. “When the doctor got inside my knee, he found I didn’t have a ligament. He built me a new one someway.” … Reported to Pacers camp in Sept. ’69, hoping he had something left. He didn’t. The knee didn’t respond as expected … Called it quits—this time for good … Before the ABA? … Prep basketball standout out of Bishop Lillis High in Kansas City … Led the Cavaliers to a perfect 29-and-Oh record and the Missouri Class-M (Medium) state championship as a senior in ’60-61. Averaged a team-leading 23.1 points a night and set state tourney record 44 points in first round victory over Albany … Team MVP. All-State … Heavily recruited. Didn’t go far: St. Louis U. Dropped 20 a night for the frosh. All-NIT Tournament Team as a soph … Junior year? Nov. 30, ’64. Opener at Kiel: Crashed into the basket support trying to block an opponent’s layup … “I tore both cartilage and ligament—first time I ever got hurt in basketball.” … Surgery followed. Prognosis: “The doctors said I would not be able to play again.” … Quit school. Returned home. Worked days for a finance company and nights at Municipal Stadium to support his growing family … Two-and-a-half years passed. Then came a call—from his old high school coach, now at little known Saint Mary of the Plains College … “Coach Schmiedeler asked me to come out to Dodge. He said if my knee didn’t hold up, he’d make me his assistant.” … Had doubts. “I didn’t know how well my knee would hold up.” Was never the same: “I always favored my left knee after I had the operation. I even had to dunk left-handed because I couldn’t take off my left leg.” … Gave junior year a second shot: ’66-67: 21.9 a night, .576 shooting, 12.4 boards … Senior year? Even better. Bumped his numbers to 24.4 and 13. Led the Cavaliers to a 16–9 finish and a run through NAIA District 10 before falling to St. Benedict’s, the eventual national champs. Scored 31 in the loss … Two-time NAIA All-America … Olympic Trials came next—last time NCAA, junior colleges, AAU, NAIA and Armed Forces competed for roster spots. Scored 39 points in three games. Led his NAIA squad to three straight victories … Made the team because of his offensive game. Coach Hank Iba: “He needs work on his defense but he can shoot like heck.” … Irony wasn’t lost on him:

“I didn’t play much in the Olympics because of my defense and here I am starting in pro ball because of my defense.” …

Scored a personal Olympic-best 15 points off the bench in a televised match against an undersized Philippines team … Gold medal game—Oct. 13, ‘68. Against Yugoslavia … Coach Iba told his team: “If we win, they’ll never remember you. If you lose, they’ll never forget you.” … Team USA broke open a close game, scoring 17 unanswered points in the first eight minutes of the second half to win, 65-50 … Signed with Indiana days after bringing home the gold. The Pacers nabbed him in the third round; the Pistons took him in the fourth. “I decided on Indianapolis because it is a better basketball town.” He added: “You usually sit on the bench in the NBA for a couple of years and I don’t want to that.” … Born Donald Francis Dee, August 9, 1941, in Booneville, MO … After the pros? Kept hustling: Mutual funds salesman. VP and treasurer of Indianapolis Franchise Systems. Promotional director for Jackson County Sheriff’s Posse ... Family legacy: Son Donnie played defensive end for the Colts, while grandson Johnny played basketball overseas … Died at 71 of natural causes, on Nov. 26, 2014—four days shy of 50th anniversary of his career-threatening injury.

Sources: Anderson Herald, 10/31/1968 [Coach Iba went for defense]; Buffalo News, 1/11/1987 [Dee-fense chant originated with Giants]; Carrollton Democrat, 1/31/1969; Columbian Missourian, 3/5/1961 [hotly recruited]; Indianapolis News, 10/23/1968 [once in a lifetime opportunity; people in Indianapolis love basketball]; 12/7/1968 [defense quotes], 1/10/1969 [Nixon inauguration], 1/22/1969, 1/23/1969 [photo of Dee in INDAINA warmup], 6/13/1969 [off-season surgery; Storen quote; Dee’s quotes re injuries], 9/27/1969 [knee didn’t respond as expected]; Indianapolis Star, 10/16/1968 [scored 15 against the Philippines]; 7/8/1969 [works as an agent for Life Investment Management Corp.], 9/27/1969 [called it quits], 11/17/2002 [warmup], 5/24/2022 [Jim Young obit]; Jersey Journal, 12/8/1993 [DEE-fense chant originated with Giants in ’56]; Kansas City Star, 3/23/1961 [All-State Class M team], 1/27/2014 [last time teams from NCAA, junior colleges, AAU, NAIA and Armed Forces competed for roster spots]; Kansas City Times, 2/28/1969 [state tourney record 44 points]; 3/21/1969 [averaged 23.1 for Lillis, 670 points in 29 games; second overall in area], 8/6/1984; St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2/28/1961 [one of state’s most hotly recruited players], 12/2/1961 [injured knee in opener]; Salina Journal, 4/11/1968; Southwest Kansas Register, 4/11/1968 [Olympic trial stats]; Wichita Eagle, 4/8/1968.