Stamp Ceremony Honors Coach’s Legacy
Former players, fans, and family pay tribute to John Wooden
A surprise appearance by former basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at the dedication ceremony for the John Wooden Forever® stamp made a memorable day even more so.
About 300 people, including Wooden’s former players, fans, and more than 20 family members, turned out to honor the legendary basketball coach at the February 24, 2024, event on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus.
The “ultimate teacher”
During his 27-year tenure at the school, Wooden led the UCLA Bruins to ten Division I men’s basketball national championships and broke several other records. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, both as a player and as a coach, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) named him College Basketball Coach of the Year six times.
Yet what speakers recalled most fondly about Wooden was the way he supported and inspired them. “Success is peace of mind,” he claimed, “which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best you are capable of becoming.”
Wooden believed strongly in preparing his players to achieve both on the court and in life, and mentored former players, as well as colleagues and youth. Friendships that developed through these relationships lasted a lifetime.
Wooden was the “ultimate teacher,” remembered Jamaal Wilkes, who played with the Bruins from 1971 to 1974 and later the Los Angeles Lakers. “He gave us a gift, a process where we could each live our best lives.”
To reach Wooden’s former players, the U.S. Postal Service worked with the UCLA Alumni Association and the Wooden family. Wilkes agreed to serve as master of ceremonies.
“He gave us a gift, a process where we could each live our best lives.”
“Made us champs”
The stamp dedication ceremony took place on a beautiful sunny day just outside Pauley Pavilion, where the Bruins now play on a court renamed for Wooden and his wife, Nell.
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block welcomed the crowd, noting that, even before assuming his post, he had made a point of meeting “Coach,” as Wooden was known in the university community.
“A USPS Forever stamp can be used as postage in perpetuity, never to expire,” said Block. “That is quite appropriate for a man whose eternal, timeless wisdom will continue to shape lives for centuries to come.”
Members of the UCLA Reserve Officers’ Training Corps served as the day’s color guard, and a UCLA quartet sang the national anthem.
“A USPS Forever stamp … is quite appropriate for a man whose eternal, timeless wisdom will continue to shape lives for centuries to come.”
Valorie Kondos Field, retired from a 29-year career as the head coach of the UCLA gymnastics team, shared memories of the man she considered her friend and mentor. Influenced by Wooden, she led her team to seven NCAA championship titles and currently teaches a graduate-level course on transformational coaching and leadership.
“He loved the written word,” said Kondos Field, who continues to cherish the beautifully handwritten thank-you notes Wooden would send to her and her husband after they hosted him and his daughter Nan for dinner. The notes “always arrived through the mail,” she recalled, “in an envelope with a stamp.”
Abdul-Jabbar’s arrival just after the stamp unveiling drew an excited response from the crowd. The former player for the Bruins (1966–1969) and later NBA star was recovering from recent hip-replacement surgery and had been unsure whether he would be able to attend.
One of Wooden’s closest friends to the end, Abdul-Jabbar spoke briefly, thanking his old coach for everything he had given him and his fellow players. “You made us champs, and you made us understand life,” he said, addressing Wooden. “I don’t think any coach can do any better than that.”
“You made us champs, and you made us understand life. I don’t think any coach can do any better than that.”
Wooden’s oldest granddaughter, Christy Impelman, provided the ceremony’s closing words. Echoing Kondos Field’s recollections, she commented that Wooden also wrote and mailed responses — without assistance — to the thousands of fan letters and requests for autographs he received.
“In his 99 years, he used a lot of U.S. postage stamps,” she said. “This honor today is a reflection of the way he lived his entire life.”