Bill Sharman’s ball boy son

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Jerry Sharman is in his early 60s now, just a few years away from being a scratch golfer and many years out on his own, away from the household of one of the most famous players and coaches of the ‘50s and ‘60s in the NBA.

It is hard for a son, even an athletic one such as Jerry Sharman, to measure up to a superstar father. Jerry remembers well one of the first times he realized how his father had become the best.

‘I was probably 9 or 10,’ Jerry recalls, ‘and my dad would take me out to practice free throw shooting with him. He was always one of the best in the NBA at that, and I soon learned why.

‘We would not end any practice session, ever, until he had made 50 free throws in a row. I was the ball-chaser.

‘He’d get to 46, 47, then miss No. 48. So we’d start over. And this time he’d miss No. 49. He wouldn’t even blink. He’d just start over. Sometimes, it’d take hours.

‘So after a while, knowing the routine like I did, when he came to me and asked if I wanted to go and practice free throws with him, I’d just tell him I had a ball game or something.’

-- Bill Dwyre