FanNation

On today's NBA Truth and Rumors page is an article describing how Kevin Garnett honors the memory of late St. John's player Malik Sealy. On May 20 2000, Malik lost his life when he was coming home from a birthday party for Kevin Garnett. The 30 year old Sealy was hit by a drunk driver, who was driving the wrong way on a freeway entrance ramp. Garnett, has honored Sealy by tattoo on his arms, and he embraces Cleveland Cavalier Joe Smith who was also a teammate of Sealy's with the Timberwolves and also has a tattoo of Sealy on his arm.

Malik Sealy, born and raised in The Bronx (one of the 5 boroughs of New York City) was a 6 foot 8 inch player who thanks to T.V. and Movies could be seen as larger then life. Sealy who had bit parts on Seinfeld, and The Sentinel, could be remembered best as Stacy Patton from the movie Eddie. For those who never saw the movie, Eddie was Whoopi Goldberg who was a superfan given the chance by a crazy owner to be the coach of the New York Knicks. Sealy, or Stacy Patton, was the self-obsessed star who didn't want to conform to the team concept. Like all sports movies, the cliched ending is that he eventually comes around and the team triumphs.

However, the purpose of this blog is to talk about Malik Sealy, the Redmen star. Number 21 had an impact from day one. Averaging 13 points his freshman year, he led the Johnnies to their 5th NIT Title, and was named to the BIG East Freshman team. He broke the 1,000 points barrier his sophomore year and averaged close to 19 points a game. In his junior and senior seasons, Sealy averaged over 22 points a game and broke the 2,000 point barrier. He is only the second on the all-time scoring list in school history and holds the career marks for most field goals, steals, and steals in a season. Coming off this stellar career, Sealy was the 14th pick in the 1992 NBA Draft but unfortunately he was a journeyman in the NBA, best known for his defense, before his untimely death in the year 2000.

Eight days from now, marks the eighth anniversary of his passing. May we remember him as a great member of St. John's University, as someone who could have been a great actor, but may we remember him for being a great person. May his soul rest in peace, and may let light perpetual shine upon him.

As always, thanks for reading.