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CELTIC-NATION
You
were born on May 18th, 1963, in Lansing, Michigan. Please tell me a little
about your childhood – your family life, your friendships, the sports that you
played, and some of the things that led you to the basketball court.
BILL SHARMAN
 I
was one of five boys – my older brother Jay also played basketball. Actually,
that was my biggest motivation for getting involved in athletics. It really
helped to spur my interest in the game, because I looked up to him and I got to
follow his career. I really enjoyed watching him play. He was a good role
model for me, and someone who also turned out to be a pretty good player
[laughs]. I aspired to achieve the same kind of success on the basketball
court.
Family life was
about growing up middle class in Lansing, Michigan, with a mom and a dad and
the same sorts of things that other middle class families had during that
timeframe. We lived in a good neighborhood, had plenty of friends, and
didn’t get into a lot of trouble. My dad actually passed away when I was
six years old. It was a big loss for our family, and a painful period in my
life. So it was more of a single-parent home following that. We had to
make adjustments as a family, which was hard for everyone to deal with at
first, but we stuck together and supported each other. In that respect, it
helped to make us stronger.
I went to
school in Lansing, and I have plenty of fond memories about my time in
Lansing’s public school system. All things considered, I guess you could
say that I had a pretty normal childhood. Sports were a big part of my life
at that time. Early on I played a little football and baseball, and even
ran a little track. When I got to junior high school it was narrowed down
to just football and basketball. Baseball just kind of dropped off. By the
time I got to high school it was pretty much just basketball. That was my
focus.
CELTIC-NATION
You
played your high school basketball at Eastern, were also honored with the
inaugural Hal Schram Mr. Basketball Award, symbolic of being the best high
school player in the State of Michigan. What memories from this period
stand out in your mind after all of these years?
BILL SHARMAN
The
love that I had for the sport of basketball. It was my release, it was my
fun time, it was pretty much my everything. I’d go to the court and shoot,
and I’d play a lot by myself. It was what I enjoyed doing most. And then
as I grew up and became a pretty good player, awards suddenly became pretty
important. Trying to achieve certain things on the court, and then be
recognized for my efforts – as I moved on into high school, those things
became pretty important to me.
CELTIC-NATION
As a
senior In 1981, you were honored as a McDonald’s High School All-American.
How did it feel to be recognized as one of the best high school players in
the country?
BILL SHARMAN
Great
feeling. In retrospect, I think those accomplishments mean significantly
more to me now than they did at that time in my life. Maybe that’s because
I wasn’t fully aware of what I was accomplishing – I was just so involved in
playing basketball, and in working hard to succeed on the court, that some
of those things were oblivious to me. I didn’t really have the frame of
mind at the time to really appreciate what I was doing. It was probably
immaturity on my part. But now when I look back at it, and I think about
some of those accomplishments, they mean a whole lot more.
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