Sam Bowie

Samuel Paul Bowie (born March 17, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. A national sensation in high school and outstanding collegian and Olympic team member, Bowie's professional promise was undermined by repeated injuries to his legs and feet. In spite of the setbacks, the and center played ten seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Projected as a solid first-rounder in the 1984 NBA draft, Bowie was chosen by the Portland Trail Blazers as the second selection, ahead of Michael Jordan. Early life Bowie was born on March 17, 1961, as the son of Ben Bowie and Cathy "Sammy" Bowie. His father was and had played basketball for the Harlem Magicians for six seasons. Bowie's parents divorced when he was 12. After the divorce, Bowie lived with both of his parents in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Concerned about not showing favoritism toward either parent, he then lived with his maternal grandmother until going to college. Bowie was a sophomore in college when his father died suddenly, aged 45, when a cyst on his lung burst. Of his father Ben, after he died, Bowie said, "We loved each other more than two individuals could. But we never could say, 'I love you.' Neither of us was that kind of person. That's the thing I'm most sorry about, that I didn't get to tell him I loved him before he was gone."