Jimmy Walker, who played at Providence in the 1960s, and Jalen Rose, who played at Michigan in the 1990s, were two of the best college basketball players of their respective generations. They were also father and son, though Walker never supported Rose and died in 2007 having never met his son.College basketball fans have known that story for years, and the lack of a father-son relationship was a major theme of the Rose life story told in Mitch Albom's book Fab Five. But if you'd expect Rose to feel bitterness toward the father he never knew, you'd be wrong.
Rose was a guest host on ESPN's Mike and Mike in the Morning Friday, and when Peter Gammons mentioned, out of the blue, that he saw Walker play at Madison Square Garden, Rose grinned and said, "Tell me about it. I'd love to hear it."
Rose looked fascinated as Gammons told him, "Jimmy Walker made the greatest pass I ever saw in my life." And later in the show, Rose explained how he spoke to Walker on the phone before his death, and how he put aside any bitterness and instead looked at the gift of basketball skill that his father gave him.
"A lot of times, you grow up in a single parent home, you grow up without your parents, you become so bitter, you become so hard when you're young," Rose said. "But then you get older and more mature and you realize, 'My life is awesome. I'm not living underneath a freeway. I'm playing in the NBA. And the last time I checked, that's a direct seed, a direct deposit from him.' ... I'm just happy I had the chance to say 'Thank you' and let him know I had no hard feelings."
It would be easy and understandable for Rose to cling to anger and resentment toward his father. He's a big man for letting all that go.
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