Still strong, with little fear
Rockets great Don Chaney battling life-threatening disease.
From the fire in his voice when talking defensive strategy, the emotion when he mentions his 12 grandchildren, the passion and smiles when he disses today’s NBA, there is no doubt that Don Chaney can still bring it.
The groundbreaking shooting guard and coach is one of the legends of Houston basketball. It is a shame that he isn’t recognized as such by more.
I thought about that when I sat down with him Saturday to talk about a rare, life-threatening disease that he has dealt with for most of the past year.
Chaney looked good, sounded strong and said he felt better now than he had in some time. He is taking on amyloidosis, a hereditary condition that is often fatal, as he has so many other challenges in life.
Strong, with little fear. He’s living well, keeping busy with fun hobbies and a host of activities involving his 12 grandkids, who are all in the Houston area.
Despite 35 years in professional basketball, youth basketball is now more fun to him than NBA games.
“It’s more honest,” Chaney said with a laugh. “It’s pure. These kids hit the floor, they play as hard as they can play, they feel the pain when they lose. It’s just a good thing to go out and relax and enjoy watching them play.
“I’m having fun. I’m having more fun now than I was in my 20s.”
In his 20s, he was a superbly conditioned, world-class athlete.
Amazingly, despite a 12-year, 790-game playing career, Chaney had only one surgery. That was on his right knee.
In retirement, the 73-year-old Chaney is at 42 surgeries and counting. And with the amyloidosis, his body is challenging him like never before. The medication he is on is working, so he is upbeat and feeling good.
Chaney has lived a remarkable life.
Not only was he a barrierbreaker at the University of Houston, but his is one of the most unique NBA experiences.
Chaney and Elvin Hayes were the first two black scholarship players at the University of Houston. He played all 40 minutes in the “Game of the Century” in the Astrodome against UCLA and future NBA teammate Lew Alcindor, and was an All-America choice.
Chaney would later become the first black coach in Houston Rockets’ history and was named NBA Coach of the Year in his third season.
Chaney is the only Boston Celtic who played with Bill Russell and Larry Bird.
And Hayes and Russell aren’t the only great big men he was around during his career. Chaney played with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with the Lakers and Moses Malone with the ABA Spirits of
St. Louis, and he coached Hall of Famers Hakeem Olajuwon, Bill Walton, Patrick Ewing, and Dikembe Mutombo.
As you might imagine, having been around such low-post greatness, Chaney misses the days of the dominant big man. When it come to rating them, AbdulJabbar tops his list.
“You can’t discount the fact that Russell was a championship guy, he played to win, but playing with Jabbar was my easiest job in terms of playing with a guy,” Chaney said. “He was phenomenal, unbelievable inside and the sky hook was unstoppable, basically.
“It is very difficult to separate the great ones, but he has to be the No. 1 guy.”
A five-time NBA All-Defensive team selection, Chaney was a hard-nosed defender, who if he were in the league today would draw the James Harden assignment.
At 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds, Chaney would see eye-to-eye with the 6-5 Harden. And it would be a battle.
Athletes of today are bigger, stronger, faster, and Harden has become one of the great scorers in league history. But I’d pay a lot to see him against some the great defenders of all-time. Players such as Chaney.
No doubt Harden would get his, but under the 1970s rules, and he’d have to work harder to do so and go about it two points at a time.
“The guy scores no matter what,” Chaney said. “I'm not going to say I have the correct formula for stopping him. But I would definitely take away the three. He would drive on me all the time. I wouldn’t let him have threes. I'm sorry.
“I’d get right into him … I can’t give up the three, because he’s deadly. He’s deadly driving to the basket as well, but I can’t give him both options, to drive and to shoot. So, I’d take one away from him. And that would definitely be the three-point shot.”
Quiet off the court, but physical with an edge (and extraordinarily long arms) on it, Chaney was a problem for any scorer.
If you have any doubts about whether Chaney could get after Harden, I suspect your driver’s license was (or still is) vertical, like a selfie.
We landscape licensees have a wider view … and it’s in HD.
How much was defense Chaney’s calling card?
When most think of posterworthy pictures, they imagine vicious dunks or sweet jump shots.
Chaney’s beautiful home office in Katy is decorated with a large, poster-size photo on the wall of a Celtics and Knicks game, with Chaney playing defense against Walt Frazier.
“That was back in the day, when they did play defense,” Chaney said. He chuckled, but he was not joking.
Chaney is taking on a strong foe in amyloidosis, which has led to heart complications. Thank goodness he was never one to be afraid of going to the doctor to keep abreast of what was going on with his body.
He wishes more men, especially black men, felt that way. Too many are dying because they’re ignoring symptoms.
Chaney says he is fortunate to have been diagnosed before too late, and to have a quality health insur-ance plan and financial stability. The medication he is on costs some $225,000 a year.
Dr. Barry Trachtenberg, who treats Chaney at Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, says three new medications have been approved in the past year, and advancements are coming, but the medical community suspects that a significant number of amyloidosis patients are not being diag-nosed because the symptoms fit so many other ailments.
“We think we’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg,” Trachtenberg said.
Knowing that his condition is hereditary, Chaney has implored his relatives to get checked. He had all of the classic symptoms of amyloidosis years before it was detected. Had he been aware of what to look for, particularly surgeries for carpal tunnel syndrome on both hands some 10 years ago, he might have been able to ward off some of the later complications.
“My mom died of heart problems,” Chaney said. “My dad died of heart problems. And my grandmother died from heart problems. And now that this disease is sort of come full front, people are now looking (back) saying, ‘Well, maybe it was a type of amyloidosis.’
“It was scary and it’s still scary because it’s not out there and that’s one reason I am discussing this, be-cause I think people should become more aware of it.”
“I want to be around. I have great grandkids. I’m blessed, and I count my blessings every day.”