Former NBA Player Says The Real Lessons Came In College

PASADENA, Calif. - Keith Erickson has enjoyed remarkable success in his life. He won an NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers and, after retirement from pro basketball, he served as a color commentator on television and radio broadcasts of Lakers games alongside legendary play-by-play man Chick Hearn.

Yet, when he spoke to the WesCorp Future Forum here, the majority of his stories were about life lessons learned more than 40 years ago at UCLA, where he was part of Head Coach John Wooden's first two national championship teams in 1964 and 65.

Wooden built an unprecedented college basketball dynasty, winning 10 NCAA titles in 12 years before he retired in 1975. According to Erickson, Wooden is "one of the most unique individuals I've ever seen. He is a national treasure."

Erickson said Wooden taught his teams fundamentals, and that everything had a reason. "He did not want yes men, he did not want things his way, he wanted things the right way. He was the greatest example young men could have." Erickson shared Wooden's definition of success: "peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming." (c) 2007 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com