On Dec. 27, seven games into a season that could end with a national championship, Juwan Howard talked to his best friend for the last time.
Saying Howard was close to Donnie Kirksey is like saying a burger is close to a bun; the presence of one helped define the other. When Howard’s son Jace was born, Donnie was in the delivery room. (He was on the other side of the curtain, cheering; thanks for asking.) When Donnie met his wife, Dionne, in 2009 he took her to meet Juwan after one week; she said he needed to get “the family approval,” but that isn’t quite right.