Few things have ever publicly reduced Jim Boeheim to tears or the hunch in his back as he plodded all 13 steps out of the Hall of Fame wing of the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center and into the practice gym.

Maybe he’s defended a player, like he did Gerry McNamara, or gotten testy at the podium, but nothing brought out the human side in Jim Boeheim like the death of Dwayne ‘Pearl’ Washington.

“It’s been a really tough day,” Boeheim said on Wednesday, “I think we’ve all known this was coming, but it doesn’t make it any easier.”

Washington, a Syracuse legend, died Wednesday after battling a malignant brain tumor since the summer of 2015. He had a previous brain tumor scare in 1996, but doctors removed it. From 1983-86, Washington was the lifeblood of the SU basketball program. A player that helped Boeheim mold Syracuse basketball into the program it is now and make the Carrier Dome a nationally recognized venue. A player who was Syracuse’s counter to Georgetown’s Patrick Ewing and St. John’s’ Chris Mullins.

“I knew he was special the first time I met him just because of the aura he had around him,” said Herman Harried, a former teammate of Washington. “… He’s the Pearl.”

For most players, there’s a moment when they go from Michael Jordan to M.J., from Kobe Bryant to the Black Mamba, from Dwayne Washington to Pearl. Even though he was nicknamed well before “The Shot,” that was Pearl’s moment.

 

Boston College’s Martin Clark missed a free throw with four seconds on the clock. The Eagles held just a one-point lead. Syracuse forward Sean Kerins grabbed the rebound and passed to Washington, who dribbled past a defender and threw up a half-court heave. A longshot. A prayer. He launched the ball toward the net, his body past the half-court line and himself into Syracuse lore with the game-winner.

“It was a lot of fun playing in the Carrier Dome and certainly against players like Pearl Washington who are special,” said Gary Williams, who at the time of the shot was the head coach at Boston College. “The really good players have an impact on the game.”

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Moments like that were what fans tuned in for. Boeheim likened Washington’s audience to Steph Curry’s in that people would stay up just to watch him. Washington helped get ESPN off the ground. The fledgling television network picked up college basketball games, specifically Big East games, which helped with the network’s rise in popularity.

His NBA career was about as short as his college career. Neither lasted more than three seasons. And yet, he was one of the few busts that escaped the smudges on their shine. Washington was viewed as an innovator, with his ankle-breaking crossover that was passed down from NBA guard to NBA guard.

“You couldn’t defend it. You couldn’t stop it. You couldn’t stop him,” Harried said. “He did what he wanted and when he wanted and he knew it. He was way ahead of his time.”

 

Sam Blum | Senior Staff Photographer

And of course, there’s stories about Pearl Washington, the man. Boston Globe reporter Adam Himmelsbach shared on Twitter how Pearl once showed up to a local Syracuse park where Himmelsbach worked and cleaned toilets to make the park look better. There are various stories on Pearl’s Gofundme page from fans that are just happy to have met him in autograph lines and on basketball courts.

Pearl is not defined by one shot, because Pearl Washington is an era of Syracuse basketball and college basketball. But that shot is forever on repeat, the ball perpetually hanging before it swishes through the hoop and the play starts all over again. On YouTube, in the Carrier Dome before basketball games.

Watch the shot again. The focus doesn’t leave the celebration. The man who made the shot bolted through the tunnel prematurely before anyone could truly congratulate him. In his wake, he left a shocked Boston College team, screaming fans and a lasting legacy.

The man, unlike the shot he took, is mortal. For the final stretch of Pearl’s battle with cancer, his fight has been predetermined. One last prayer that would land just a little bit right or left of the rim.

But in the end, legends are remembered for the shots they do make, not the ones they don’t.

“I think people know the legend,” Boeheim said, “There aren’t really many legends.”

Published on April 22, 2016 at 4:26 pm

Contact Chris: cjlibona@syr.edu | @ChrisLibonati