MIAMI (AP) - Tim James apologized for being late. A rough day at work, said the Miami Heat's 1999 first-round draft pick. Vehicles broke down, problems flared up, and he simply fell behind.
"It happens," James said. "Even here."
A first-round pick in 1999, Tim James, right, played for three NBA teams during his 43-game career. (Noren Trotman / Getty Images)
Even here - on the front line of the Iraq war.
A former NBA player who often wondered about his true calling, Tim James is now a U.S. Army soldier, a transformation that even many of the people closest to him never saw coming.
"I got my degree, lived the life I was able, have my freedom and became a professional athlete," James said last week from Iraq. "I'm the example of the American dream."
James is at Camp Speicher, the massive base near Tikrit, 85 miles north of Baghdad, not far from Saddam Hussein's hometown and where insurgents still are a perpetual threat. For Miami Northwestern High, the Miami Hurricanes, three NBA teams and some foreign clubs, he was forward Tim James. For the Army, he's Spc. Tim James of Task Force ODIN - short for Observe, Detect, Identify, Neutralize.
In layman's terms, he's part of the unit tasked with watching and catching the bad guys before they plant bombs.
So long, charter jets, enormous paychecks and Ritz-Carlton hotel stays.
Hello, 130-degree afternoons, 12-hour work days, $2,600 a month and 50-caliber machine guns.
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2 comments:
Joe: Thanks for the great post. I admire Tim James more than he will ever know.
I am reminded of a Sports Illustrated article of a couple of years ago written by Frank Deford. The article was about the great pitcher Bob Feller. Feller was pitching in the majors before Pearl Harbor, but immediately enlisted and was in fact the first major leaguer to do so. He could have avoided combat by selling bonds, etc., but insisted on serving like everyone else.
In the article, Frank Deford, asked him what the most important thing in his life was. I guess Feller could have answered being elected to the Hall of Fame, etc. But instead, Feller told Deford that serving in the Navy was the high light of his life. That his fellow sailors meant more to him than anything else. You could tell from reading the article that Deford was dumbfounded. Obviously, Deford never served in the military.
Since reading that article, Feller has become my favorite player of all time. Along with Pat Tillman, Tim James joins that pantheon.
Tim is a tremendous testimony for those having served, and are presently serving our Country in the U.S. Military. They are an elite group of young people and as a Nation we are blessed to have them volunteer to serve.
They must fight under some the most extreme rules of engagement ou rmilitary has ever been subjected to, but time and again they are victorious!
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