With the familiar hardwood under his feet and his retired jersey No. 24 hanging from the old rafters, Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Bradley high-fived his aging former teammates and broke into a wildly uncharacteristic midcourt jig Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
As both a basketball player for the New York Knicks and a New Jersey senator, Bradley was not known for outpourings of emotion. “Wooden” is the term some use to describe his political speeches. But Sunday marked a new era for the Hall of Famer, one in which he began earnestly capitalizing on his storied athletic history in an effort to connect with voters.
Once adamant about leaving his sports career behind, Bradley is now embracing the game and its lessons, hoping his experience will further his campaign to win the Democratic nomination and ultimately become president.
The fundraiser, attended by about 5,000 people, raised an estimated $1.5 million and included praises and tributes from over two dozen celebrities and sports legends.
Tickets to the unusual 2 1/2-hour afternoon pep rally, a world away from formal, stuffy New York fundraisers, were sold through Ticketmaster and Bradley’s Web site. Prices ranged from $50 for college students up to $1,000.
“This game meant a great deal to my life and it’s part of my life,” Bradley said after listening to a series of tributes from Bill Russell, Oscar Robinson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, John Havlicek and Bill Walton. Havlicek, the former Boston Celtic and a formerly fierce opponent, is Bradley’s campaign co-chairman in Massachusetts.
“This arena is a part of my life. And it’s great to have my teammates here in this, my biggest game,” Bradley said.
Of course it is much more than a game to Bradley, who needs to do anything he can to raise money to keep pace with Vice President Al Gore, who is leading in the polls. In a Des Moines Register survey of Iowa Democrats, Bradley trails Gore, his only opponent for the party’s presidential nomination, 54 percent to 32 percent.
And these days his teammates include people such as actors Harvey Keitel and Ethan Hawke, director Spike Lee, and WNBA coach Nancy Lieberman-Cline, who all appeared at the fundrasier.
But it was the exceptionally tall men Bradley lived, worked and traveled around the country with from 1967 to 1977 who spoke with the most passion: Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere, Jerry Lucas and Dick Barnett.
In suits and sneakers, the former Knicks stood together, stirring up nostalgic memories for anyone old enough to remember “Dollar Bill” and the 1970 NBA World Championship team. During the fundraiser, called “Back in the Garden,” the players even re-created the most memorable moment in Knick history: Willis Reed’s inspirational walk from the tunnel in Game 7 of the championship series against the Los Angeles Lakers.
“What you’re seeing here is we’re all very proud of Bill and if we can help draw people who might not normally go to a political event, it’s a great way to go,” DeBusschere said.
Added Frazier: “Bradley energized my thinking about (politics). A lot of guys I played with, I wouldn’t show up for anything they did. But Bill is unpretentious. He’s team-oriented and a family man.”
Gore supporters say it’s an oddly convenient time for Bradley to be rediscovering his basketball roots. The vice president spent Sunday in California, unveiling a proposal to spend $2 billion from a mining industry fee over 10 years to set aside more parkland and combat suburban sprawl.
Bradley retired in 1977 and has rarely visited the Garden over the years. When he was elected to the Senate in 1978 he insisted he wanted to make it on non-basketball terms, and only resorted to referring to his basketball prowess when he was trying to help pass the Tax Reform Act of 1986.
But now Bradley seems to be using basketball as he has all his life, as a tool to get somewhere else.
His teammates first rallied for him at a July fundraiser at the Chicago Historical Society that raised $350,000. Unlike Sunday’s event, which was virtually basketball-free except for a layup and dribbling contest, contributors at the Chicago fundraiser were allowed to shoot against former All-Stars at baskets set up in the Historical Society’s courtyard.
“I don’t think it’s being opportunistic, I think it’s a way of reaching out,” said John Garver, one of Bradley’s roommates at Princeton University, who flew in from London for the fundraiser. Garver, a banker, first met Bradley at a National Student Council Convention in Janesville, Wis., in 1960. “If you know Bill Bradley, ever since he has been 14 years old everything he has done has made a difference.”
Brian and Joan Drum of New Jersey paid $250 each to attend “Back to the Garden” and both admitted they were fervent Knicks fans. But to them it was far more telling that Bradley was “a regular, good, honest person,” Joan Drum said. “There are definitely lessons to be learned from sports, but it’s far more important to see the man Bradley is,” she said.
Other Bradley supporters at the event weren’t even alive when Bradley was running around in shorts. A group of 40 children from the Hispanic Young People Alternatives in Brooklyn thought they were going to Madison Square Garden for a Knicks game, only to find out they had tickets to the fundraiser instead.
“I’ve seen footage (of Bradley) on the Classic Sports Network,” said Nelson Frey, 17, a student at the High School of Telecommunication, Arts and Technology in Brooklyn. “I think it’s good he’s having this. Any time I can come to the Garden I’m happy.”
Andrew Diaz, 10, knew exactly who Bradley was and the purpose of the event. “He’s an old Knick and the other old Knicks are going to help him win the election,” he said.
At the end of the program the scoreboard wouldn’t confirm Diaz’s prediction. Campaign staff resisted putting Bradley and Gore’s names overhead with a won-loss score. Instead it read simply: “Bill Bradley (No.) 24.”
