The Brotherhood of Maurice Stokes and Jack Twyman

'An Unbreakable Bond'

Maurice Stokes, born June 17, 1933, is known as one of the greatest basketball players who ever lived. He won back-to-back City League championships at Westinghouse High School and led St. Francis University to the Final Four. He is the only player on a fourth place team to win Tournament Most Valuable Player.

In the 1955 NBA draft, Stokes was picked number two overall by the Rochester Royals (later becoming the Cincinnati Royals). In his first NBA game he accounted for 32 points, 20 rebounds and 8 assists.

He was voted the NBAs Rookie of the Year.

Toward the end of Stokes' third season as a Cincinnati Royal he fell and hit his head on the hardwood court and slipped into a coma and spent the rest of his life as a Paraplegic.

The brain injury had robbed Stokes of his speech, mobility and independence.

Caucasian teammate Jack Twyman became his legal guardian and Twyman and his family took care of Stokes for 12 years until he died of a heart attack at the age of 36 in 1970.

"An Unbreakable Bond": The Brotherhood of Maurice Stokes and Jack Twyman" is a new book written by Patrick Farabaugh, an author and professor of communications at St. Francis University, Stokes' alma mater.

"I am so blessed to be able to write this book. In 2010 I interviewed Jack Twyman and he died in May 2012. I couldn't have written the book without Twyman," Farabaugh said. "Unfortunately, some of the key players in the story have passed away - people who would have been valuable sources. Plus, as the years go by, memories fade. As a historian, you want to do your best to make sure you get it right."

Farabaugh, who once served as sports information director at St. Francis and was in attendance when Stokes was enshrined into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2004, began writing the book in 2010.

In those days the NBA didn't have sufficient health insurance so Twyman had to be very creative to raise the money to care for Stokes. Twyman organized a charity exhibition basketball game in 1958 at the Catskills resort in New York to help raise funds for Stokes' medical expenses. This became an annual event.

Farabaugh believes his book will appeal to a wide audience, including many who aren't basketball fans.

"Sure it's a basketball story, but it is so much more than that," said Farabaurgh. "At its essence, it is the story of two men - one who overcame tremendous challenges and another who embodied selflessness."

In 1973, three years after Stokes' death, his story was told in the film "Maurie" which starred Bernie Casey.

Should this book be part of the curriculum at high schools and colleges?

"I would love that! Twyman was a unique White guy who befriended a Black guy. This stuff was not accepted by society in the 50's.

Twyman had the courage to do it," said Farabaurgh. "I'm 43 years old and Jack Twyman did this in his early 20's with a wife and a young family."

The Maurice Stokes Athletics Center opened in 1971 on the St. Francis University campus and is named after him.

On June 9, 2013, the NBA announced that both Stokes and Jack Twyman would be honored with an annual award in their names, the TwymanStokes Teammate of the Year Award, which recognizes the player that embodies the league's ideal teammate that season.

Chauncey Billups won the award in 2013 and Shane Battier won the award in 2014.

(To find out more about this book or to order a copy, call 814-472-3188.)

by Smokin' Jim Frazier

For New Pittsburgh Courier