By Cait Kemp
@caitlinkemp09
The man who influenced the ball-handling skills of everyone from NBA legend Steph Curry to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton developed his iconic training drills while studying at the Birthplace of Basketball. While pursuing a master’s degree at Springfield College, Robert “Bobby” Lewis created a training program that would be praised and sought after for decades to come. Some of the greatest players, coaches and contributors of basketball benefited from his drills.
A few years ago, Kenny Smith, a former NBA player-turned-broadcaster, touted Lewis' ball handling prowess on air during the NCAA Tournament. Smith talked about Lewis coming to a basketball camp at Smith's high school in New York City.
"He was unbelievable. He was the first guy,” Smith told The Philadelphia Tribune in 2017. “You see Steph [Curry] doing all that stuff, but [it] comes from [Lewis] and Pete Maravich. [Lewis] was the one who went camp to camp and showed it and did it every day. He was the guy. … A lot of the things I did to work out to be an NBA player I chose the drills that he showed me at camp. Bobby was a big influence in terms of my workout regimen.”
His drills are taught to players when they first begin playing the game, and some of the best athletes in the world utilize his training program to keep their game sharp. His program is universal – everyone uses the drills created by him.
The basis of strong ball handling all stems from this one man, the YMCA and Springfield College.
Lewis excelled in athletics from a young age, participating in an array of sports – basketball, baseball and even table tennis (he advanced to the Youth Table Tennis National Championships). At the Christian Street YMCA in his hometown of Philadelphia, he honed in on his love for athletics.
Each day as he walked into the Y, Lewis stopped at the trophy case. In the case was a photo of the 1953 YMCA national championship team, which included future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Wilt Chamberlain. As 8-year-old Lewis gazed upon the image, he decided he wanted to be great.
“I said to myself, ‘I want to do that,’” Lewis said.
Of course, at the time, he didn’t know that the high-school-aged Chamberlain would go on to become one of the best professional basketball players of all time. But Lewis did know he loved the game – and he wanted to center his life around it.
Lewis became a star guard at John Bartram High School in Philadelphia. He was selected to the First Team All-City Basketball team and was named an Eastern Region High School All-American.
In high school, Lewis was introduced to his mentor – someone who would change the game for him. One of Lewis' good friends, Cleveland White, introduced Lewis to Guy Rodgers. Rodgers originally planned on helping White enhance his skills, but White knew basketball wasn't for him. That's when he passed Rodgers along to Lewis, knowing Lewis would take full advantage of the opportunity.
Rodgers was one of the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) best in the 1960s, playing most notably for the Philadelphia Warriors and twice leading the league in assists. Rodgers was most known for his passing abilities, totaling 20 assists in Wilt Chamberlain’s famous 100-point game. His career-high in assists was 28 – tying Bob Cousy’s then-record for assists in a game. Lewis was a sponge, soaking up all of the expertise that Rodgers offered him.
Each morning, Rodgers would drive his red corvette over to Lewis’ house to pick him up for a training session. The pair would show up to an empty gymnasium in Philadelphia and play full court against one another. Twenty minutes on, then a quick break before the next 20 minutes of play. After that 40-minute session, they would have a “halftime,” and get back into it for the next two quarters.
Two guys in a gym playing full court with no timeouts, foul shots or other stoppages that normally happen in a game is an exhausting routine. But it was just the norm for the duo. They knew this would make them better, and Lewis was desperate to keep up with his mentor.
Rodgers was always capable of going just as hard at the end as he did at the beginning of their 80-minute workouts. Lewis credits Rodgers for helping him perfect his craft and teaching him the importance of being conditioned.
“I thank Guy Rodgers all my life, because he was the one who made me,” Lewis said.
“He said, ‘I like your attitude, you go for it and I want you to be the best you can be.’”
Lewis went on to become a First Team All-American at South Carolina State, where he led the Bulldogs to the NCAA Division II regional finals in 1967.
At South Carolina State, Lewis had the opportunity to play under legendary coach John McLendon, who was one of James Naismith’s students and players at Kansas. McLendon is known for inventing the fast break. Quick runs up and down the court were not a popular style of play; the game was much slower-paced. McLendon changed that, helping increase the pace of the sport to the up-tempo pace that is popular today.
Lewis played for McLendon during his sophomore year at SC State in the FIBA Small Player’s Basketball World Cup in 1967 in Barcelona, Spain, where he was selected as team captain and flag bearer for the United States team that won the championship. McLendon’s influence on Lewis was significant; he emphasized speed and agility in a game that previously wasn’t played like that. Learning from his mentors of Rodgers and McLendon, who were great innovators of the game themselves, drove Lewis’ passion for basketball even further.
After his collegiate career, Lewis played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) as well as internationally in Europe throughout the late 1960s and 1970s.
When his playing career was over, he knew he was not done making an impact on basketball. Lewis enrolled at Springfield College, the birthplace of his passion, to get his master’s degree in Education. While on Alden Street, he also worked with the YMCA.
The YMCA, Springfield College and the birthplace of basketball were entwined in Lewis’ journey. His Y experience came full-circle. He went from staring at Wilt Chamberlain’s photo, to studying at the original YMCA training school and working at the YMCA while completing his master’s – all in the city where basketball was born. It was an experience that just made sense to him.
It was through his master’s program at Springfield that Lewis developed his world-renowned basketball training program. Students were encouraged to choose a project that they were deeply passionate about, but had not yet had time to complete. Lewis knew instantly which plan he wanted to put into action, and began developing the program that he would later take to hundreds of camps and clinics to teach the next generation of basketball stars.
Every basketball player – from rec leaguers to NBA All-Stars – knows the two-ball drill. In gymnasiums across the country, players are told to grab two balls and get on the line. Bounce the balls in sync, then alternate. If the team is more advanced, perhaps they learn to cross over the balls simultaneously. The two-ball drill is the foundation of great ball handling skills, and it all started with Lewis’ project at Springfield.
The two-ball drill just scratches the surface of Lewis’ impact on youth basketball. The theme of the training program Lewis developed and then took across country and overseas to basketball clinics was fast ball speed. It was titled, “Ball & Mind Control Builds Winners.” That is what caught people’s attention, because hand and fingertip strength was never taught to that extent until Lewis introduced it.
In his thesis, Lewis described it as “an educational, revolutionary program for improving overall play through the development of ball handling and ball control skills.”
Another aspect of his program was classroom sessions. The players never wanted to sit at a desk and learn about the game, they wanted to get on the court. But Lewis knew the importance of teaching players important skills in that type of setting prior to taking it to practice. This combination was unique, and it’s what set Lewis apart from the rest.
“When I started doing this thing with the ball, moving faster, that’s what got their attention and that is what is the signature of the program,” Lewis said.
Lewis credits his mentors for helping him to get to where he is today. He flipped the script from mentee to mentor when he worked closely with Andre McCarter.
McCarter grew up in Philadelphia as well and played at the same YMCA that Lewis attended. McCarter recalls going to play for his games, and staying after to watch the older kids like Lewis play.
“This was a time, you’re looking at 1969 in Philadelphia, and just the basketball world was totally different but it was the golden age of basketball,” McCarter said. “I learned the game that way, the Christian Street YMCA was the place that I grew up.”
McCarter himself was a successful basketball player. He went on to play professionally in the NBA, but more notably played under John Wooden at UCLA. His success stems from the skills he learned from Lewis.
“Bobby used to set up drills and mentor me, so it’s kind of like a lineage,” McCarter said. “Bobby was mentored by Guy Rodgers – Guy Rodgers mentored all these players that came through, including Bobby. So he grew up with that and he passed that information that he got from Guy Rodgers to a person like me.”
Later on, McCarter would realize his connection to Lewis through the Christian Street YMCA would change his life, as Lewis took McCarter under his wing and brought him along his training plan journey.
“Bobby Lewis used to take me around when he first started. He said ‘Andre, I have this new thing and I want someone who can really handle the ball to work with me,’” McCarter said.
Lewis then told McCarter about the two-ball system that he had created.
Once the program proved to be successful in the states, they took it internationally. McCarter accompanied Lewis on a trip to Venezuela.
McCarter wrote in a letter on behalf of Lewis to the Hall of Fame for his nomination, “When I traveled to Venezuela with Bobby Lewis as his sidekick I could not believe the reception we received from the media and the basketball community. It was a high-level celebrity welcome. They were excited to see this new and innovative way to enhance their basketball skills. Bobby Lewis’ and I as a demonstrator set Venezuela’s Basketball Federation and basketball players and fans on fire.”
Lewis was taking his program all over the country and world, attending camps as a guest instructor. Everyone from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Bill Walton wanted Lewis’ program at their camps because it was clear he was an innovator. The praise of Lewis and his program was amplified by the many who experienced the training at clinics, and continued to seek his ball-handling mastery.
“I wanted to take the opportunity to commend you on your clinic,” Abdul-Jabbar wrote in a letter to Lewis in 1982. “Not only is it beneficial to young boys and girls, it is of great value to individuals of all age groups who wish to improve their fundamental basketball skills.”
That same year, Walton wrote, “Your skill teaching ability and enthusiasm really turned the players on and it was remarkable how much of an impression you and your program had on the youngsters.”
Lewis received “thank-yous” and praise from dozens of other contributors of the game, including college and high school coaches. The testimonies speak for themselves: it was clear that Lewis knew how to teach basketball, and his program was the epitome of ball-handling skills.
“Applying yourself through self-innovation is key. It’s a matter of commitment, realizing that you only get out what you invest, no more or less,” Lewis said in an article from The Philadelphia Tribune in 1985. That theme is not only true in sports, but in life.”
Today, he speaks to that notion, as he continues to have a hand in the development of young players. Semi-retired, he still brings his training program to the youth. He always had a dream to have an influence in basketball. Through his intense dedication to his program, he was able to accomplish just that, impacting the best athletes in the game for generations.
Photos Courtesy of Bobby Lewis
Credits:
Photos Courtesy Bobby Lewis