Wise loved to play and came to play

BELLEVUE , Wash. — Willie Wise was indescribable.

Simply put, his former Utah Stars' coach, Ladell Andersen, said, "Willie Wise was the best player I ever coached in my entire career. Period." Coming from Andersen, that's a mouthful.

Wise, 54, faced every bizarre situation while playing for the American Basketball Association's Utah Stars, and there wasn't a challenge he didn't love. Or conquer.

No matter what Wise did, the 6-foot-5 ABA All-Star always would greet people with his contagious smile. He loved to play.

It's actually hard to believe Wise is 54 years old. There always was a boyish charm inside him reaching out to fans, courting respect.

That comes from both on- and off-the-court endeavors. He played the game because he loved it. His boyish zeal in a man's body was something that overcame any shortcomings.

"Willie came to play," said former Indiana coach Bobby Leonard. "And that meant we had to play him. No one did the things he did on the court. He might have been the best two-way player the ABA ever had. By being a two-way player, I mean he came to play at both ends — offensively and defensively.

"I actually think he liked playing defense more than offense. That's a trait you don't acquire. That's just plain desire. You have to love the game to want to do that type of dirty work. But he did. His match-ups against Roger Brown were some of the best the league ever had. I always loved Willie Wise. I wish he had played for me."

That's saying something coming from your biggest rival's coach.

At the same time, Leonard was right.

"My first and only goal coming into the ABA was to be a great defensive player," Wise said. "I loved playing defense. It was always a challenge to see if I could stop guys like Rick Barry, John Brisker and Roger Brown. But I didn't like to think of myself as the best defensive player in the league. That's because when I started to think about that I might have let down."

Wise never wanted to call attention to himself. But his efforts grew into legendary proportions. Sports Illustrated did an article on Wise, saying he was the "best two-way performer in pro basketball." Others followed.

With his efforts offensively, he would carry the Stars on his back for stretches at a time. Wise would always look to what the team needed at the time and quietly go about accomplishing that.