Semoball

Former NBA player brings message of maturity to Cape

Former NBA champion Adrian Branch spoke Saturday at LaCroix United Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau.
Jeff Long ~ jlong@semoball.com

Adrian Branch took off his beret, revealing close-cropped gray hair as he spoke Saturday at a Cape Girardeau church.

A reserve with the Los Angeles Lakers in the late 1980s and a member of three other NBA franchises has, by his admission, made regrettable mistakes.

Those errors have taken their toll but he says he’s learned from them.

“I was making wrong choices,” the 55-year old Branch said, “and going down the wrong road.”

Branch revealed that he was once kicked off a team for dropping off a kid who, unbeknownst to him, was picking up drugs.

Branch has more than a passing acquaintance with narcotics, having gone to the University of Maryland — the same school attended by 1980s college star Len Bias, who died of a cocaine overdose just days after being selected in the first round of the NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics.

Branch says the dead star “was a like a brother to me.”

“(Bias) let the wrong people get close to him.”

The experiences of Branch, who has been an ESPN college basketball analyst since 2007, led him to the speaking circuit, where he says he tells people a simple philosophy.

“You were not born a winner,” Branch said, “nor were you born a loser, but a chooser.”

Making the right choices, Branch insists, determines what your life will be.

Branch spent part of last week in Cape Girardeau County, a guest of local businessman Bob Nations and his wife, Bonnie, through their connection with the Full Gospel Businessman’s Fellowship.

During the visit, Branch’s third to Cape since 1998, Branch spoke to Adult & Teen Challenge, Jackson Middle School, Codefi Marketplace and Rick Ray’s Southeast men’s basketball team.

Branch invited a teenager in the audience to hold his 1987 NBA championship ring during his remarks.

After leaving the NBA, Branch played overseas.

While in Australia, the six-foot-eight former athlete said he was looking for a purpose.

“(I’ve learned) you need more than a ring to overcome uncertainty,” Branch said.

After looking into the spiritual mysticism of Marianne Williamson and the books of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, Branch says he accepted Jesus as his Savior in 1993.

“The Bible became fire (to me),” Branch said. “I was even interested in the boring books — Leviticus and Ecclesiastes.”

When his ESPN schedule allows, Branch hits the road to speak wherever he is invited.

The former player met Bob Nations at a conference in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in the mid-1990s and has stayed connected.

Branch said he had the talent and was once recognized for a slam dunk he made at age 17, which was repeated on TV highlight shows nationwide over and over.

“Yes, I had ability,” Branch said, “but I had an attitude.”

Because of his demeanor coming out of Maryland, “NBA teams had question marks about me.”

The late Jerry Krause, the then-general manager of the Chicago Bulls, picked Branch in the second round of the 1985 NBA draft.

Krause had a message for the young Branch.

“If you can’t get along with Michael Jordan, you’re off the team,” Krause explained.

Within three days, Branch was cut, a decision he blamed entirely on himself — and his attitude.

Peppering his talk with Scriptural quotations and entertaining bromides, Branch wrapped up his short speech at LaCroix Church with a memorable play on words.

“You’re not weak,” Branch said. “You’re an overcomer. You’re not a chump, you’re a champion. You are those things because of one good man (named Jesus) who loved us.”

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