Hall of Fame basketball coach George Raveling dies at 88 - ESPN

George Raveling, a Hall of Fame basketball coach who played a role in Michael Jordan signing a landmark endorsement deal with Nike, has died. He was 88.

Raveling's family said Tuesday in a statement that he had «faced cancer with courage and grace.»

«There are no words to fully capture what George meant to his family, friends, colleagues, former players, and assistants — and to the world,» the family statement read. «He will be profoundly missed, yet his aura, energy, divine presence, and timeless wisdom live on in all those he touched and transformed.»

It is with deep sadness and unimaginable pain that we share the passing of our beloved «Coach,» George Henry Raveling. pic.twitter.com/LGWQubvI3V

Raveling, who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015, had a career record of 335-293 from 1972-94 at Washington State, Iowa and USC. He had a losing record in his first season at each school before making multiple trips to the NCAA tournament.

His success at those programs landed Raveling on the U.S. Olympic basketball staffs in 1984 and 1988.

Jordan was on the 1984 team that won gold at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and Raveling helped convince him to sign with Nike. He introduced Jordan to Sonny Vaccaro at Nike, which helped lead to a contract that gave Jordan his own brand, made him millions of dollars and changed the athletic apparel industry.

Marlon Wayans portrayed Raveling in the 2023 movie «Air» that focused on Nike's courtship of Jordan.

Raveling also owned the original copy of the «I Have a Dream» speech by Martin Luther King Jr. He was working security at the 1963 March on Washington in which King delivered one of the most famous speeches in American history.

As King was exiting,