PHOENIX — The importance of MLK Day even touches the wide world of sports.
Teams take time during games to honor the life and legacy of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In the NBA, that tradition dates back to 1986 when MLK Day became a National Holiday
And on MLK Day, I love to tell the story of one of the best sports connections to Dr. King and the Civil Right Movement.
It started in August 1963.
"I have a dream,” Dr. King proclaimed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Dr. King had just delivered his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ in front of more than 250,000 people, including George Raveling.
The name should sound familiar.
He was the first African American men’s coach at Iowa, and the first black men’s basketball coach in Pac-12 history.
A Basketball and College Basketball Hall of Famer, Raveling also won Olympic medals as a Team USA coach.
But in 1963, he was a 26-year-old assistant at Villanova.
Like so many, he went to the march on Washington and ended up being asked to help with security — be some muscle on the podium just in case.
Raveling stood just feet from Dr. King and when the speech was done, he came face to face with King and boldly asked, “That was a great speech Dr. King, can I have that copy?”
Dr. King handed it to him and the rest is history.
He folded it up, put it in the front of one his favorite books, a personally signed copy of President Truman’s autobiography and basically forgot about it.
Until about 20 years later.
A reporter asked him about being at the march and Raveling said, “Yes I was there, you know I got the speech.”
That was in 1983: 20 years after the speech. It’s been 40 years since then.
Coming up on 60 years later, Raveling still has it.
He’s been offered millions for the speech. But to most people's surprise, the words ‘I Have a Dream’ were not on it.
It was a compete ad lib by Dr. King.
George Raveling is now 86 years old and has turned down all offers for the speech.
He making sure that the speech is worth more than just money, lending it to a museum so people can see it.
If you’re ever in Memphis, check out the National Civil Rights Museum at The Lorraine Motel where Dr. King was shot.
It’s educational, it’s emotional, and it’s important.
Today, the speech is on display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC.
He’s left it in his will to his son Mark, with one condition: Mark can never sell it.
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