This is not Razorback related in some ways, but in others it is. Jim King, from tiny Branch, would have been a Razorback had Glen Rose recruited him. That came back to haunt Rose. Here is a column I wrote for the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette about one of the great Arkansans to play in the NBA. He has been attending Razorback games in the past year as a guest of Tommy Boyer, his high school teammate at Fort Smith High School (now Northside). Here you go:
http://www.wholehogsports.com/news/2018 … -was-king/
There are many stories that Jim told me that I didn’t have room for. Yes, I got in a lot, but we talked for well over two hours. He talked about playing with Jerry West, Rick Barry, Nate Thurmond, Oscar Robertson and Jerry Sloan. All were his teammates in his 10-year NBA career. He had stories about Bill Russell, too. There were stories about the way the NBA traveled in his days. Bus and commercial flights, stuffed into small seats.
There aren’t any finer men than Jim King. You come back a better person after spending time with a man like that.