Wes Unseld Kind Of Heart

Never Outworked On The Court And Never Outdone Off It, Wes Unseld Gave As Much To Life As He Did The NBA

By James R. Estepp, Jr.

James Estepp, Jr. is a longtime Bullets/Wizards fan who believes in the power of sports and the arts bringing people together.  

Westley Sissel Unseld was never a scoring machine, nor would he block shots with any regularity, and his foot speed would never draw comparisons to Carl Lewis or Usain Bolt, but, as a kid spending a great deal of time in or near the Capital Centre in the 1970s, it was clear you were witnessing greatness while watching him work. The measure of a man is found in far more than his fame, however.

James Estepp, Jr.

Nobody on the court ever outworked Wes Unseld, and nobody on the court ever outsmarted him, either. Though he played in a time that lacked the glamour of the Bill Russell Celtics dynasty of the 1960s before it, and the days of Magic’s showtime and Larry’s Legend that would fully emerge as his career ended, his legacy to the game will never be forgotten.

He stood only 6 feet, 7 inches, small by any objective standard at the center position, in an assignment that would put him up against the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob Lanier, Bill Walton and Artis Gilmore, all Hall of Famers, and all at least four inches taller than Unseld.

Physical size didn’t matter, as the size of Unseld’s heart was incomparable, and his understanding of positioning and his sturdy hands meant that when he got them on the ball, it wasn’t going anywhere unless he wanted it to. Some of his legend is written in his outlet passes, somehow both perfectly textbook, yet stylistically beautiful. There’s a reason that when he retired from the team, he led the franchise, not just in career rebounds, but in career assists as well.

For those of us who have lived through the past four decades of basketball here, from sheer ineptitude, to start and stop periods of potential, it isn’t easy to remember that Wes Unseld’s Bullets played in more NBA Finals (four) than any team in the decade of the 1970s.

Though he retired following the 1980-81 season, Unseld is still 12th in the history of the NBA in total rebounds, and his average of just under 14 rebounds a game is sixth all-time. He is also one of only two men in history to be Rookie of the Year and League MVP in their first seasons.

His legacy is so much more than that, though. Look no farther than Unseld’s’ School, sitting on South Hilton Street in Southwest Baltimore, where, for 40 years, Wes, his wife Connie, and their daughter, Kim, have raised young men and women in the city, from daycare through middle school, touching lives in a way that no success on the court could.

Though the world has lost Wes Unseld, his legacy will live on, not just as an immortal in the annals of NBA history, but in the lives of generations of children from Baltimore that he and his family have touched.

In the midst of the chaos, it remains important to remember our heroes, especially those who have managed to touch lives both inside of and away from the spotlight.