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On the evening of December 7th, former United States Senator and New York Knicks hall-of-famer Bill Bradley presented a number of assorted stories on Sports and Politics for the Eagleton Institute of Politics on the Douglass Campus Center at Rutgers University.

Whether passing legislation or shaping national opinion, Bradley would focus his time on large-scale reform while serving in the U.S. Senate from 1979 to 1997. He also ran for President in 2000. He was the driving force behind the Tax Reform Act of 1986, which lowered tax rates for millions of American and closed billions of dollars of special interest loopholes. He advocated expanded global trade and federal budget priorities that bolstered the national economy and met critical human needs.

Bradley hosts a radio show, "American Voices," on Sirius XM satellite radio. He has authored six books on American politics, culture and the economy; best-selling memoirs Time Present, Time Past and Life on the Run; and Values of the Game, a book of sport-inspired essays. He was a three time All-American at Princeton University and graduated with honors in 1965. He was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford, where he earned a graduate degree after studying politics, philosophy and economics. Bradley had a stellar basketball career and was elected to the pro basketball Hall of Fame in 1982.

In his brief introduction of the Knicks legend, RU Athletic Director Tim Pernetti talked about how student-athletes have the opportunity to display leadership and inspire others along the way. So when Bradley took the stage, he playfully scolded Pernetti: "Tim - you are so young and have a lot to learn. You don't kick my college and pro team when they're down."

Bradley spoke on five specific values from his "Values of the Game." The first one is discipline; he recalled his former Knick teammate, Dick Barnett who would practice hours every day while he was attending Roosevelt High School in Gary, Indiana. On the day of his senior prom, people going into the prom would hear Barnett bouncing the ball. For Bradley's part, when he was selected to a group representing the Uruguay Trade Round he was there for ten years until the bill passed. That's discipline.

 

In talking about value #2, selflessness, Bradley mentioned that a basketball player is not one point on a five-point star. No one is good as all five players together. People know about fear, hate, love in politics, but didn't know that someone in the political world could be a leader. He said "That is selflessness."

The third value is imagination. He mentioned a story about high jumper Dick Fosbury,  who was told to to use his belly over the bar. Fosbury tried something different by using his back to go over the bar. He won a gold medal in the Mexico City Olympics, and "from that point no one went belly over bar."

The fourth value is resilience. Bradley mentioned a time where he threw a bad pass that the other team stole and scored a basket to win the game. Bradley felt terrible. His Knick teammate at the time, the late Dave DeBuscherre said "don't let the defeat be an enemy of today when it can be a victory for tomorrow." Bradley said that "when the hammer hits the steel it becomes stronger."

 

 

Finally, he spoke on integrity. He mentioned that Larry Bird, who was on the 1992 U.S. Olympic team, had a contract that he must return to play with the Celtics by August 15. Bird had a serious back injury at the time. Regarding a $4.5 million renewal of his contract, Bird told team president Dave Gavitt he would not be able to play, walked away and did not take the money.

Transferring the values topic to his political experience, Bradley mentioned a story about Senator Russ Feingold who wanted to pass legislation on campaign finance reform. With his lead shrinking week by week, Feingold would not take PAC money to talk about what his opponent was doing to him. His lead vanished but Feingold still would not take the money. Bradley said "That's integrity" -- and Feingold won the election.

He mentioned about what he misses, regarding public policy. He told that he fills the void by writing books, and interviews people about taking part in unusual festivals and working at unusual jobs.

Bradley closed out the talk by saying that there needs to be an ethic of connectedness where "we're all in this together." The other thing he mentioned is the ethic of responsibility, which he said breaks down as 'inidividuality' on the Republican side and 'collective caring' on the Democratic side. Both values need to be used together to make things work, Bradley said. In regards to the current healthcare crisis, he mentioned that if people exercise, ate better and took better care of themselves, healthcare costs would be less and there would a better standard of living. "What you do in your life will help you live a longer life."