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There are basketball players with incredible talent and bright futures. Unfortunately, these players never had a chance to thrive in the NBA.
Notable was Len Bias, who tragically died two days after being drafted by the Boston Celtics for a cocaine overdose in the 1986 draft. Beas is only 22 years old. Reggie Lewis is another player that comes to mind. Lewis died of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy at the age of 27.
Both players are well-known in basketball, but if I say the name Ben “Benji” Wilson, do you know who I’m talking about? In this article, we will tell the tragic story of Benji Wilson, a basketball player from the streets of Chicago, whose bright future was tragically interrupted.
Benji grew up in a tough neighborhood
The Chatham neighborhood on Chicago’s south side wasn’t the safest area to grow up. Drugs and violence fill the city, making it almost impossible for young people to get out of the city successfully.
Now, it’s almost impossible to mean that there are some people who have actually made it and succeeded. A perfect example is the famous hip-hop artist Chance the Rapper. So, the odds are slim, but it does happen.
Speaking of sports stars, Chatham saw Ernie Banks become a professional baseball star as he went on to play for the Chicago Cubs for 19 years. But what about basketball stars? Chicago itself has plenty of professional NBA players, but not Chatham.
Ben “Benji” Wilson is Chatham’s best hope of becoming a professional basketball player. Wilson was a once-in-a-lifetime talent, rivaling Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan as the greatest basketball player of all time.
“Benji is Magic Johnson, but with a jumper,” former NBA player Nick Anderson said of Wilson. “He’s got all the moves. We play one-on-one a lot. Benji usually wins. I see him in my head sometimes, he’s playing in the NBA and he can do that after just two years in college. ”
Nick Anderson, who played in the NBA for 13 years, is a friend of Wilson because he and Wilson each attended Neil F. Simon Vocational High School. Wilson is a year older than Anderson, but the two have forged a bond on the basketball court.
Anderson was a great player, even in high school, but his talent paled in comparison to Wilson.George Diaz orlando sentry In a 2016 article, Wilson’s game was comparable to that of Kevin Durant. At the age of 17, Wilson was athletic, thin, and skilled, standing at 6-foot-8. So, this comparison is not far-fetched.
Benji becomes a high school star
The year was 1981, and Ben “Benji” Wilson entered Neal F. Simeon Vocational High School as a freshman. People in the community already know Wilson can play because they’ve seen him shoot in summer league.
During the 1982-83 season, Wilson became the only sophomore to play on the varsity team. While Wilson’s performance on the court has continued to improve, the Chik epidemic is rampant in Wilson’s neighborhood. This has led to an increase in violence around the city.
Wilson wasn’t bothered by drugs because basketball was on his mind. It was his ticket and he didn’t want to screw it up. As a junior, Wilson helped Neil F. Simon Vocational High School (known simply as Simon in Chicago) win the public league championship. The win put Simon in the state championship.
Simeon’s head coach, Bob Hambric, was as in awe of Wilson’s game as anyone who saw Benji play. Hambrick went on to talk about Wilson’s game:
“He has the same skills as Magic, but he shoots better from the outside. He does both. He has the ability to change the face of any game. If he decides he’s going to rebound and block, that’s what he does. If he Decide to go low and score and he can do it. He can do anything.”
Wilson started off with great basketball as he is known for playing. In the quarterfinals, Wilson scored 16 points, 16 of them all in the first half, to lead Simon to a 48-44 victory over Rock Island.
Wilson will play well against Aurora West in the semifinals, finishing with 21 points, four rebounds and five assists in Simon’s 67-58 victory. That established Simon’s championship game against top-ranked Evanston Township High School.
Wilson’s performance in the championship game was not great, he only had 4 points and 5 rebounds. Despite Wilson’s poor performance, Simon won their first state championship with a 53-47 victory over Evanston.
Wilson, now a high school basketball champion, was named the National High School Basketball Rookie. Colleges are already watching Wilson closely because they know he’s a perfect fit for their teams. Unfortunately, Wilson didn’t play a single game during his senior year of high school.
Tragedy hits Chicago basketball world
On November 21, 1984, Ben “Benji” Wilson set his sights on playing basketball at the Boylan Championship. He’s looking forward to defending the school’s state championship the previous year, and their first game in the Boyland Championship will be against Evanston.
The day before the Boyland Championship, Wilson decided not to have lunch at school, but to go out for a bite to eat. Wilson and his girlfriend Jayton Rush walked to a convenience store on the block.
While walking, three teenagers walked past Wilson, who apparently bumped into one of the teenagers. According to a Chicago Tribune witness, Wilson said “sorry” and the teenager he bumped into responded: “There won’t be any excuses.”
The teenager drew his gun and fired two shots at Wilson, one in the chest and one in the groin. Wilson will be taken to St. Bernard’s Hospital in Englewood, Chicago.
The next day, on the day his team was supposed to play in the Boylan Championship, Wilson died at the age of 17. The entire Chicago community is shocked, saddened and outraged by the violence their city continues to witness every day. Wilson should have come out of Chatham. He should go on to have a successful college career.
After college, Wilson was supposed to move on and have an incredible career, but it all ended in the blink of an eye, getting two bullets pulled by an angry teenager who was “bumped”.
Simon decided the best thing to do was to play their scheduled basketball game that day, because that’s what Wilson wanted. Wilson’s teammates, though injured, wanted to honor their fallen teammates by winning. They did it in grand fashion, beating Evanston 71-50.
A memorial service was held in the gymnasium of Neal F. Simeon Vocational High School, with an estimated 10,000 people present to pay their respects. William Moore was the teenager who shot Wilson. Moore and another teenager at the scene, Omar Dixon, have been charged with murder. Moore and Dixon are both 16 years old.
Dixon grabbed Wilson’s jacket pocket and attempted to rob Wilson after he ran into one of the teens, police said in a statement after the murder. The story was supported by Wilson’s girlfriend.
Wilson then pushed Dixon away from him, and that’s when Dixon said, “This guy pushed me. Pop him,” to Moore. This led Moore to pull the trigger and murder Wilson.
Both Moore and Wilson were convicted of Wilson’s murder, with Moore serving 40 years and Dixon 30 years. Basketball players from Chicago will wear his No. 25 jersey to honor Wilson at some point during their basketball journey. That includes Nick Anderson, Juwan Howard, Derrick Rose, and NBA and Chicago Bulls rookie Darren Terry.
Wilson’s legacy lives on in the basketball world. In 1997, he even won an award for his own Nike ad.
Wilson’s death was not only a tragedy for the Chicago community, but even more tragic because of the fact that Wilson had a young son. Sadly, gun violence is still rampant in the city of Chicago.
Hopefully one day these senseless killings will stop and we won’t have tragic stories like Ben “Benji” Wilson.
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