Early Years
Lottie and Michael Kennedy welcomed James Walter Kennedy into Stamford, Connecticut. He was born with polio, that left him with a disability and prevented him from participating in sports. Nevertheless, he was a committed sports fan who worked his entire life and career in the industry, rising to the top position of NBA commissioner in 1963. Kennedy was a multi-talented person who worked as a politician, public relations specialist, and high school coach.
He served as athletic director and a highly successful team coach at Stanford’s St. Basil’s Preparatory School in the late 1930s. He had three kids with Marion McRedmond—David, Robert, and Kathleen—after they got married in 1940.
He went back to his alma mater, Notre Dame, in the 1940s to work as its director of sports information. Just as the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League were joining forces to become the National Basketball Association, he moved on to become the director of public relations for that organization.
J. Walter Kennedy travelled the world as the Harlem Globetrotters’ publicity director throughout the majority of the 1950s. Prior to the NBA owners electing him president in 1963, he returned to Stamford and was elected mayor in 1959. The J. Walter Kennedy Sports Complex is the name of the sports facility of Westhill High School in Stamford.
NBA President and Commissioner
Approachable Kennedy, who succeeded the likeable first president Maurice Podoloff, developed into an iron-handed executive and made it clear to everyone where he stood on problems. Kennedy soon exercised his power, fining Red Auerbach $500 for his unruly behaviour in a preseason 1963 game. It was the biggest fine ever imposed on an NBA coach or player at the time. In 1967, he was given the title “commissioner.”
Kennedy was also the NBA commissioner who sustained the Chicago Bulls’ protest for “the Phantom Buzzer Game” against by the Atlanta Hawks in 1969, which was the league’s first-ever protest.
Kennedy took over the NBA at a time when it was experiencing difficulties due to the American Basketball League and having just nine teams, no broadcast contract, declining attendance, and other factors (1961–1963). On May 31, 1975, Kennedy announced his resignation as commissioner. During his time, the league had grown to 18 clubs, acquired a lucrative broadcast contract, and significantly improved its financial situation. Attendance had tripled and revenue had increased by 200 percent. He rose to prominence in the later years of the American Basketball League and left office soon before the ABL’s final season.
In addition, Walter Kennedy played a key role in introducing an annual NBA game to Springfield for the benefit of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Walter Kennedy spent 13 years on the board of trustees of the hall of fame, including two years as its president. In 1981, Kennedy was admitted to the Hall.
Kennedy also took an active role in a number of charitable organizations, such as Boys’ Town of Italy, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the Special Olympics. An NBA player or coach is given the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award each year in recognition of their exceptional community involvement and commitment. Former winners include Glenn “Doc” Rivers, Bob Lanier, Reggie Miller, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Julius “Dr. J.” Erving, and Reggie Miller.
Death
After a brief battle with cancer, Kennedy succumbed to liver failure shortly after turning 65 in 1977. Many sportsmen and dignitaries, including Willis Reed, the governor of Connecticut Ella Grasso, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and NBA commissioner Larry O’Brien attended his burial. Howard Cosell delivered the eulogy. He left behind his wife and three kids. He is interred at St. John’s Cemetery in Stamford, Connecticut’s Springdale neighbourhood.
“Get more sports news, cricket news, and football updates, log on to sportsdigest.in. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter and Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.”
