Gordon reaps benefits from dad calling shots
LOS ANGELES — The family business had been passed down from generation to generation, as if there were a sign on a backboard somewhere, “Gordon and Sons.”
But that night in New Orleans, when Eric Gordon Jr. kept hitting 3-pointers and Eric Gordon Sr. kept beaming long after his son was handed the trophy, it was about more than the way they make a living or even the passion for the sport they share.
It was about all those hours; all the lessons one shooter gave to another. It was about pride, sure, as any parent would feel for a child succeeding on that level. But this was a victory shared. It was a triumph not just of the Rockets’ sixth man winning the NBA 3-point contest, but of Eric Sr., and “E.J.,” reaching back together to the years spent in the gym honing that shot.
“My jump shot is almost a set shot in a way, but I’ve shot the same way since I was 9,” Eric Jr.
said. “That’s what he told me to do. He put the ball in my hands and told me, ‘Shoot this way.’ I made one shot and he was like, ‘Do it for the rest of your life.’ It worked out pretty well.
“I’ve been shooting the same way since I was a little kid. He made it simple for me. I just never changed. He teaches people to shoot. That’s one thing he’s known for, he prides himself on.”
Eric Sr.’s lessons would help make his oldest son Indiana’s “Mr. Basketball,” a lottery pick and last season’s NBA Sixth Man of the Year. Beyond all that, the hours and hours spent in the Jewish Community Center gym across the street made Eric Gordon’s win in New Orleans and return to the contest Saturday in Los Angeles something to be shared.
“I knew the amount of time and effort, all the good times and bad times, all the times on the court, working through things,” Eric Sr. said. “That made it really gratifying. I was elated for him. As a dad, it was one of the proudest moments I’ve ever had. I have three sons (Eric, Eron and Evan). They all make me proud. That was one of the greatest moments ever.”
Follow-through the key
It was a win they could share because of all that went into it since before Eric Jr. could hold a memory. He was two weeks old when his mother first took him to one of his father’s City League games.
Eric Sr. had been a small forward at Liberty and made a CBA team in Maine before he chose to give up basketball as a career. In the years since, he has taught young players
at the E3 Basketball Academy the follow-through he drilled into his oldest son. He has run Eric Jr.’s AAU program. But the lessons began with “E.J.” when he was 5.
“Before I’d go to work, we’d go over there and get some shots up,” Eric Sr. said. “In the summer, he’d be there shooting, playing, six, seven hours a day. When school was in session, he’d go to school and
practice, get some homework done and then we’d go back over there for a couple hours every day.
“We’re a basketball family. That’s the gift I guess I passed on to all my boys, the love of basketball. My wife (Denise) sometimes would say, ‘Basketball, basketball, basketball. I hate basketball.’ Vacations were all basketball-related. But for me, that was fun. … I enjoy seeing kids im- prove, especially my own.”
Before long, he was teaching the shooting principles he valued most. Senior’s release point is higher, but the followthrough Eric Sr. teaches is everything.
“The thing I helped him with is you have to have the fundamentals,” Eric Sr. said. “The main thing is your follow-through. That’s why a lot of people say we shoot just alike. My shot is above my head. His comes a little bit from the shoulder. But the followthrough is exactly the same. That’s what I believe, the follow-through, the elbow going up and following through with the wrist. Those things are identical.”
Bragging rights to dad
The pride in his voice comes through, particularly when he shares that at his son’s camp two summers ago, when they had a shooting contest — son made 29 consecutive 3s before he missed; dad made 36. But when Eric Jr. speaks of his father and the victory they shared, he sounds as happy as that night in New Orleans.
“He was my coach. He’s always had something to say,” Eric Jr. said through a laugh. “But the No. 1 thing he focused on was my jump shot. Every day. I had school. I came to the JCC across the street and shot with him before every game. We’d just work on shooting all the time.
“I’ve always dreamed of winning the 3-point contest. For him to be there and see it, for him to put all the time into me, shooting through my whole lifetime, I know it meant a lot to him, for sure.”
To his son, too.