The Leroy Awards

Some times art imitates life.

And in Reggie’s case, it’s life imitating art imitating life.

Reggie “Thespian” Theus was the star of one of the great Saturday morning shows of our generation: Hang Time. Reggie, a former NBA player, parlayed his height and rebounding skills into an acting gig as the head coach of an all-white high school basketball team that played on a 40′ court.

Reggie was captivating.

His ability to win league championship after league championship with a team of misfits who could barely dribble a basketball was awe-inspiring to viewers… and apparently also to the Maloof brothers who hired Reggie to coach the Sacramento Kings. Unfortunately for the Maloofs, they failed to realize that Reggie’s ability to coach the oft-in-trouble Teddy Brodis (played by multiple Leroy nominee Anthony Anderson) did provide credibility with Ron Artest.

Here’s to Reggie Theus. Most importantly, he helped his players overcome severe issues surrounding dating, drug and alcohol use, racism, sleep deprivation, and other scary school-related issues. But Reggie was also able to turn his on-TV coaching into an NBA coaching gig (and a massive contract). That is certainly worthy of a Leroy.