Official Site of the Pacers · Aug 14, 2015
Mel Daniels Packs Knockout Punch as a Poet
NBAE/Getty ImagesPacers' Hall of Fame Center kept quiet about it during his playing career, but estimates he has written 20,000 poems.
The greatest enforcer the Pacers have ever had, the guy who seemed to get into more fights during the late Sixties and early Seventies on basketball courts than Muhammad Ali had in boxing rings, is sitting in the corner booth of a restaurant and reading poetry to me.
They are gentle, heartfelt poems on a wide variety of subjects. Living in a senior community ... a retired athlete reflecting on his glory days ... a young athlete trying to please his father ... the love between a father and daughter ... athletes and their money ... older women.