Sunday morning, I went to an early mass at our parish, St. John the Baptist in Hillsdale, NJ, and I am always interested and intrigued to what our pastor, Monsignor Peter Smutelovic, has in store for his homily. This week he talked a great deal about the faith that the two College Football championship quarterbacks, Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard and Ohio State’s Will Howard, displayed, and how they artfully explained their faith before they even talked about the game in their postgame comments. It was interesting to hear, especially when the “Thank God and Jesus” comments from athletes sometimes get lost in the hype and white noise of athletic events.
However, it was not exactly that part of his homily that struck me as pertinent…it was another part, where he talked about the life we lead every week of Certainty and Mystery we have around us all the time.
What did he mean? Pretty simple…when we look back on the impact we have had, it’s usually pretty clear the things we did, the people we touched, the impact we probably had immediately. We know what the scope of work professionally and personally looks like. What is mysterious to us is what lies ahead, because no matter how we plan, those impactful bumps, those changes of course and how we react to them is what helps really shape us. Like the unwritten resume, the unplanned journey down a road, and the faith to take that road that is choosing us, can be our biggest challenge.
I thought about the impact of certainty and mystery a lot on Sunday, as we remembered three lives that intertwined, and all certainly knew the path they had taken, but probably had little to realize the mystery…and in many ways…the tragedy, of where they ended up.
The first and most immediate was the passing of former 76ers owner Harold Katz. A self-made man and a proud Philadelphian, Harold Katz was a key part of my “mystery” back in the day, when he, and Sixers head of Business Development Gerry Ryan, took a chance on me and offered me the head of communications role with the Sixers at the age of 28. I was very comfortable leading the communications work at Fordham, my alma mater, but the Sixers saw something that made sense to them and with no NBA experience, gave me the job. My wife Laura and I were just married, we had a house, we knew nothing about Philly, but we…actually Laura and Fordham athletic director Frank McLaughlin and the NBA’s VP of Communications Brian McIntyre, convinced me to take the job, and off we went. However it was Harold…he loved being called “The Boss”…he would call our house and always say “It’s The Boss” and I knew even though we were living in New Jersey it wasn’t Bruce Springsteen on the line…who really showed faith in me by giving me the job. His line to me before it was offered was “If you do all this stuff for 21 teams at Fordham can you do it for 15 basketball players and our coaches” and he never questioned what we did after that. It set us on a road of learning, and friendships that have lasted a lifetime, and taught me so many things I got to apply later in life. However, at the end of our Sixers’ journey was another circle back point of mystery. The team was sold. A pain point for Harold as he really, really loved the Sixers despite the hard times they had fallen on…and despite promises made, several people were immediately let go, me being one of them. Again, mystery overtook us, and great uncertainty as well as this was not in any way planned (nor was the logic ever explained but that’s OK now) and in a conversation with Harold after the news got out he was very upset and disappointed that a promise made to him by the new ownership was broken, not to let go of front office staff without proper evaluation. His certainty turned into a mystery for us.
It worked out OK eventually, and the pluses and positivity and lessons learned during our three seasons certainly outweighed the negative outcome at the end which was in many ways beyond our control…there is the mystery element again.
Mr. Katz’s passing wasn’t the only thing Sunday that caused me to reflect on mystery and certainty.
The other, also tied to our time in Philadelphia in many ways, was the five-year anniversary of the passing of Kobe Bryant. Somewhat lost to history was the time young Kobe spent in and around the Sixers offices in the basement of Veterans Stadium and on the practice court at the fieldhouse at St. Joseph’s University. The Sixers coaching and front office staff had an impact on young Kobe’s career choices at that point, and while cellphone cameras were not really a thing in the period of the ‘90’s, the mental images of Kobe sitting around the desks in our offices, even getting ready to go to his senior prom, were memories I and many others will always have. Kobe was a person who never forgot his roots, and in our chance passings over the years, he was always cordial, friendly and engaged. The last time I saw him in person for a few minutes was actually at the US Open, where he was promoting his new children’s book. We talked very briefly while his group hustled him off to his next spot. Five years ago he was on his way to do what he loved with people he loved, when mystery interceded and changed the path of so many. There was a story this weekend that indicated that the recent fires in LA were in some ways akin to the soul crushing experience of Kobe’s passing, only to a much greater extent given the magnitude of loss. The feeling was the same. The mystery of ahead also looms large.
Kobe Bryant’s passing five years ago bookended a month where another tied to basketball, leadership and vision also landed in that thought of mystery. The month began with the passing, suddenly, of former Commissioner David Stern. As I have mentioned before, I was lucky enough to have spent some amazing time listening and learning from the former Comish during his second act, and those moments, given his sudden passing, were also ones that I treasure from the journey. His impact was certain, and it remains so. The mystery of unplanned loss dislodging plans is, as we know, beyond our grasp sometimes.
However, there is a way that certainty and mystery intertwine, and in these three cases, I believe it holds great value, value which we can all take to heart. If we make the effort to be certain of our intent, of our work, of doing little things to help people, of working together, of spreading joy and positivity, then the mystery of what lies ahead maybe becomes easier to bear. You take a path, you build a legacy, you assist others, and the mystery of why we did things on our certain path maybe is clearer to those around us.
Harold Katz, David Stern, Kobe Bryant. A trio whose paths crossed throughout the years, whose impact on me and many others is certain. The mystery is what lies ahead for us, and how we can take those lessons and forge the best road possible. That’s what all three left behind as examples. Impact beyond a game
