[ChicagoSports.com]`Enjoying every day'-Rudy Article

tinman · Dec 2, 2004

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune...c01,1,7457260.column?coll=cs-basketball-print

`Enjoying every day'
Rudy Tomjanovich has overcome bladder cancer and leaving Houston to rebuild his career as Lakers coach

December 1, 2004

LOS ANGELES -- Rudy Tomjanovich isn't sure which was the worst day during his ordeal with bladder cancer.

The day the doctor told him his odds were 30-70 with the kind of cancer he had?

"The doctor who did the follow-up told me my chances, and I thought it was 70 positive," Tomjanovich recalled. "I said, `Thank God.' I didn't realize it was 30-70. But I just wanted to keep it all positive."

No, it wasn't one of the days he had chemotherapy.

"Maybe it was because the first 10 days after I got up every day was this beautiful, sunny day," Tomjanovich said. "I'd wake up and think, `It's good to be alive today. Aren't I really lucky I went in to do the follow-up? I could still be out there. I didn't feel sick. You don't feel sick. It's a bad cell thing. Instead of saying, `Why me?' I said, `Man, I'm lucky to get a chance to get through this thing.'"

And it wasn't when Tomjanovich basically gave up food for a month, not eating anything cooked and subsisting on fruits, vegetables and juice. He lost 30 pounds.

"It was amazing--it cleaned me out," Tomjanovich said. "I did some positive imaging, like a battle going on and seeing the good cells winning. Believe it or not, I really felt people praying for me. I never believed that kind of stuff, but I believe it now. I've seen some miracles, learned some unbelievable things about prayer. It was kind of cool."

Lucky man

Tomjanovich's cancer began with a urinary infection. He didn't think much of it, but it didn't go away, and then at practice one day someone said he needed to see the doctor.

"I thought, `Oh, shoot,'" Tomjanovich recalled. "I assumed I had it. The big thing is if it's in the muscle. If it is, they have to take the bladder or it will spread. The doctor said it wasn't, but it was wild, real aggressive. I jumped all over him and was hugging him like when we won the championship. He said, `You don't understand. It ain't good.' I said, `It's not that, We've got a chance.'"

Tomjanovich's cancer is in remission. He doesn't smoke anymore and he has been sober for almost seven years. The cynic might suggest it's just what the new coach needed to deal with Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, who will play the Bulls at the United Center on Wednesday. But all has been a blast for Tomjanovich.

"I feel like I'm the luckiest guy in the world," Tomjanovich said. "To have a clean bill of health, to have a chance to be back coaching and with this great organization. I didn't have one bad day after I found out about the cancer. There might be people out there who have something and they don't even know it. I have a chance. And to be with this team and a player like Kobe Bryant. I'm blessed. I'm enjoying every day to the utmost."

And the Lakers seem to be as well, especially Bryant.

`Players' coach'

Although the embattled Lakers star still has built something of a wall with the media and public after his sexual assault case and the departures of center Shaquille O'Neal and coach Phil Jackson, for which he was faulted, teammates say Bryant has been more relaxed and involved than perhaps ever in his pro career. It's likely in no small part because of Tomjanovich.

"Rudy's definitely a players' coach," Lakers assistant Frank Hamblen said. "He doesn't like negativity to creep into anything. He's very enthusiastic for all the players. He creates a circumstance in which the great ones can flourish and the others can reach their level."

And it's not like Bryant and the new Lakers team is more of a coaching challenge than he has faced.

Tomjanovich, 56, was a lifelong Houston Rocket. The victim of the infamous punch from Kermit Washington in 1977, he, nevertheless, was a five-time All-Star after an All-American career at Michigan. He scouted for the Rockets and was an assistant for about a dozen years when he replaced Don Chaney in 1992.

The Rockets long had been underachievers with a player then known as moody, uncooperative and selfish, Hakeem Olajwuon. He and management were in a major dispute with accusations even that Olajuwon threw games to make his point and get trade offers to virtually every team.

It was Tomjanovich who came in, helped broker the peace and turned Olajuwon into an unselfish teammate. Olajuwon never averaged three assists in his first eight seasons. He never averaged below three in his first six with Tomjanovich as the Rockets won two NBA titles. Lacking ego, a rare trait in pro coaches, Tomjanovich adapted his offense to Olajuwon's strengths, just as he is doing for Bryant.

"What I had heard about him is that he is extremely receptive to any kind of feedback from the players," Bryant says. "He has been that way with us, from me down to the very last player on the bench. You can just go to him and talk to him about anything."

Houston icon

Tomjanovich, a muscular 6-foot-8-inch forward, grew up in the gritty Detroit suburb of Hamtramck and never thought he would leave. Now that he has bought a home in Los Angeles that overlooks the city skyline from miles away, he said it reminds him of the factories and smokestacks in the distance behind his boyhood home.

His raspy voice still betrays a flat Midwestern verbal landscape around an occasional Texas drawl. He had become an icon of sorts in Houston with the first major league championships for the city, was never known to speak ill of any player and even liked the media. It was rare not to see him after games hoisting a beer with some reporter.

Then he was arrested for drunken driving. He promised his children, one of whom had a boyfriend killed by a drunken driver, he wouldn't embarrass them again. He couldn't help it.

"I didn't get it," Tomjanovich said. "It's a disease of denial. It's a disease that tells you, `I ain't got it.' I believed I didn't have it. I never thought I'd have fun again. It was such a big part of my life."

Tomjanovich finally beat off the demon in August 1998, taking a leave from coaching the U.S. World Championship team to finish rehabilitation. He later coached the 2000 U.S. Olympic basketball team, but then everything from basketball to his life turned upside down. He lost his job and almost his life, and now he has it all back.

"I didn't know how good this team would be," said Tomjanovich, who got the Lakers job after a team flirtation with Mike Krzyzewski. "They even said there was a chance [neither Bryant nor O'Neill would] be here. But I felt comfortable whether it was a rebuilding or whatever."

The Lakers (9-6) have been competitive, if not dominant. Bryant has been brilliant at times, leading the league in scoring. But Tomjanovich also has helped turn Chris Mihm into a serviceable center as Bryant leads the team in assists.

"I was happy scouting," Tomjanovich said. "It's fun. No pressure. It's probably what I'll end up doing. I'm conscientious about my job. I'm not saying I don't still get butterflies. But it isn't like it was before. Before, I'd think, `Oh, my goodness, what if it doesn't work?'"

Not much doesn't work for Tomjanovich, and don't discount the Lakers because of him.
Rudy Tomjanovich has overcome bladder cancer and leaving Houston to rebuild his career as Lakers coach

December 1, 2004

LOS ANGELES -- Rudy Tomjanovich isn't sure which was the worst day during his ordeal with bladder cancer.

The day the doctor told him his odds were 30-70 with the kind of cancer he had?

"The doctor who did the follow-up told me my chances, and I thought it was 70 positive," Tomjanovich recalled. "I said, `Thank God.' I didn't realize it was 30-70. But I just wanted to keep it all positive."

No, it wasn't one of the days he had chemotherapy.

"Maybe it was because the first 10 days after I got up every day was this beautiful, sunny day," Tmjanovich said. "I'd wake up and think, `It's good to be alive today. Aren't I really lucky I went in to do the follow-up? I could still be out there. I didn't feel sick. You don't feel sick. It's a bad cell thing. Instead of saying, `Why me?' I said, `Man, I'm lucky to get a chance to get through this thing.'"

And it wasn't when Tomjanovich basically gave up food for a month, not eating anything cooked and subsisting on fruits, vegetables and juice. He lost 30 pounds.

"It was amazing--it cleaned me out," Tomjanovich said. "I did some positive imaging, like a battle going on and seeing the good cells winning. Believe it or not, I really felt people praying for me. I never believed that kind of stuff, but I believe it now. I've seen some miracles, learned some unbelievable things about prayer. It was kind of cool."

Lucky man

Tomjanovich's cancer began with a urinary infection. He didn't think much of it, but it didn't go away, and then at practice one day someone said he needed to see the doctor.

"I thought, `Oh, shoot,'" Tomjanovich recalled. "I assumed I had it. The big thing is if it's in the muscle. If it is, they have to take the bladder or it will spread. The doctor said it wasn't, but it was wild, real aggressive. I jumped all over him and was hugging him like when we won the championship. He said, `You don't understand. It ain't good.' I said, `It's not that, We've got a chance.'"

Tomjanovich's cancer is in remission. He doesn't smoke anymore and he has been sober for almost seven years. The cynic might suggest it's just what the new coach needed to deal with Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, who will play the Bulls at the United Center on Wednesday. But all has been a blast for Tomjanovich.

"I feel like I'm the luckiest guy in the world," Tomjanovich said. "To have a clean bill of health, to have a chance to be back coaching and with this great organization. I didn't have one bad day after I found out about the cancer. There might be people out there who have something and they don't even know it. I have a chance. And to be with this team and a player like Kobe Bryant. I'm blessed. I'm enjoying every day to the utmost."

And the Lakers seem to be as well, especially Bryant.

`Players' coach'

Although the embattled Lakers star still has built something of a wall with the media and public after his sexual assault case and the departures of center Shaquille O'Neal and coach Phil Jackson, for which he was faulted, teammates say Bryant has been more relaxed and involved than perhaps ever in his pro career. It's likely in no small part because of Tomjanovich.

"Rudy's definitely a players' coach," Lakers assistant Frank Hamblen said. "He doesn't like negativity to creep into anything. He's very enthusiastic for all the players. He creates a circumstance in which the great ones can flourish and the others can reach their level."

And it's not like Bryant and the new Lakers team is more of a coaching challenge than he has faced.

Tomjanovich, 56, was a lifelong Houston Rocket. The victim of the infamous punch from Kermit Washington in 1977, he, nevertheless, was a five-time All-Star after an All-American career at Michigan. He scouted for the Rockets and was an assistant for about a dozen years when he replaced Don Chaney in 1992.

The Rockets long had been underachievers with a player then known as moody, uncooperative and selfish, Hakeem Olajwuon. He and management were in a major dispute with accusations even that Olajuwon threw games to make his point and get trade offers to virtually every team.

It was Tomjanovich who came in, helped broker the peace and turned Olajuwon into an unselfish teammate. Olajuwon never averaged three assists in his first eight seasons. He never averaged below three in his first six with Tomjanovich as the Rockets won two NBA titles. Lacking ego, a rare trait in pro coaches, Tomjanovich adapted his offense to Olajuwon's strengths, just as he is doing for Bryant.

"What I had heard about him is that he is extremely receptive to any kind of feedback from the players," Bryant says. "He has been that way with us, from me down to the very last player on the bench. You can just go to him and talk to him about anything."

Houston icon

Tomjanovich, a muscular 6-foot-8-inch forward, grew up in the gritty Detroit suburb of Hamtramck and never thought he would leave. Now that he has bought a home in Los Angeles that overlooks the city skyline from miles away, he said it reminds him of the factories and smokestacks in the distance behind his boyhood home.

His raspy voice still betrays a flat Midwestern verbal landscape around an occasional Texas drawl. He had become an icon of sorts in Houston with the first major league championships for the city, was never known to speak ill of any player and even liked the media. It was rare not to see him after games hoisting a beer with some reporter.

Then he was arrested for drunken driving. He promised his children, one of whom had a boyfriend killed by a drunken driver, he wouldn't embarrass them again. He couldn't help it.

"I didn't get it," Tomjanovich said. "It's a disease of denial. It's a disease that tells you, `I ain't got it.' I believed I didn't have it. I never thought I'd have fun again. It was such a big part of my life."

Tomjanovich finally beat off the demon in August 1998, taking a leave from coaching the U.S. World Championship team to finish rehabilitation. He later coached the 2000 U.S. Olympic basketball team, but then everything from basketball to his life turned upside down. He lost his job and almost his life, and now he has it all back.

"I didn't know how good this team would be," said Tomjanovich, who got the Lakers job after a team flirtation with Mike Krzyzewski. "They even said there was a chance [neither Bryant nor O'Neill would] be here. But I felt comfortable whether it was a rebuilding or whatever."

The Lakers (9-6) have been competitive, if not dominant. Bryant has been brilliant at times, leading the league in scoring. But Tomjanovich also has helped turn Chris Mihm into a serviceable center as Bryant leads the team in assists.

"I was happy scouting," Tomjanovich said. "It's fun. No pressure. It's probably what I'll end up doing. I'm conscientious about my job. I'm not saying I don't still get butterflies. But it isn't like it was before. Before, I'd think, `Oh, my goodness, what if it doesn't work?'"

Not much doesn't work for Tomjanovich, and don't discount the Lakers because of him.
Click to expand...

TheFreak · Dec 2, 2004

Good article.

Good article.

francis 4 prez · Dec 2, 2004

very nice article.

although maybe his worst day was when the lakers lost to the freakin' bulls right after this article. can't be giving away freebies like that in the west.

Roc Paint · Dec 3, 2004

Rudy leaving the Rockets was the worst day in franchise history.

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