While the status that comes with being a basketball hero can mitigate systemic racism, former Kentucky players say it doesn't give them total immunity.
Fred Cowan, who played for UK from 1977-78 through 1980-81, recalled how "that was just life" to be stopped by the police.
"I didn't think I was worried," he said this week. "I didn't drink. I didn't smoke. Even my friends weren't allowed to bring drinks or marijuana in my car."
Then Cowan was in the passenger seat as UK teammate LaVon Williams drove from Kansas City to Denver. The speed limit was 55 mph. Cowan recalled Williams going about 60 when they saw the police lights and pulled to the shoulder of the road.
"As soon as the state trooper got out of the car, he pulled his gun on us," Cowan said.
As Cowan recalled, the UK players tried to ease the tension by pleading, "We ain't doing nothing!
"Then he started aiming at LaVon."
Cowan told his teammate to stay in the car.
"All of a sudden, LaVon says, 'We play for the University of Kentucky! I'm LaVon Williams and he's Fred Cowan,'" Cowan said. "Believe it or not, you could kind of see him relax a little bit. And I really believe that's the only thing that saved our lives."
Cowan said he had another incident with a police officer a few years ago. This time he was talking to a friend in a parking lot in Evansville, Ind. A police car drove up. One of the policemen got out of the car.
"He hollered at me, 'Let me see some ID!'" Cowan said.
The former UK player did not like the policeman's gruff tone of voice. "Before you get anything from me, you're going to have to talk to me a lot better than you're doing," Cowan said he told the policeman.
The policeman again demanded identification. Cowan again said the policeman would have to change his tone.
"Then his partner stepped in and said, 'Let me handle it,'" Cowan said. "I'm telling you, that's the only thing that saved me."
A question might come to mind: why not swallow your pride and comply with the policeman's demand rather than risk an escalation that could turn deadly? Because an accumulation of being treated in a demeaning way can lead to a wearing down of acceptance of feeling demeaned, Cowan said.
"There comes a time he gets tired ...," Cowan said of a black person. "Death will be better than to keep going through what I was going through."
Erik Danels, who played at UK from 2000-01 through 2003-04, coaches the Woodford County High School girls' basketball team. After a game in January, he returned to the school parking lot and discovered someone had written the n-word on the back of his car. To make matters worse, his three oldest children were with him and first discovered what had been written on the car.
"It kind of hurts because I had a lot of explaining to do to my children," Daniels said of Niyaune, 17; Erik Jr., 12 and Eriyaune, 11. "They don't understand why anyone would do that to their dad."
Upon reflection, Daniels saw how the incident could teach his children "how to approach certain situations in life.
"Especially my son, being a black male. When a police officer approaches the car, you have to be very cautious. Some of the things my dad taught me. When you get pulled over, just how to carry yourself being a black male in America."
Daniels, who is also the father of 22-month-old Eriyah, said his older children attended peaceful protests in Lexington this week. They made signs and wore T-shirts adorned with messages of support for protesters.
"They like to be involved," he said. "They have a voice. They have friends that they talk about things with. I want them to know what's really going on."
Kenny Walker, an All-American for Kentucky in the 1980s, acknowledged the difference that's made by being a basketball hero for an elite program like, say, UK, Duke or North Carolina. There is much more acceptance.
"Let's not get it twisted," Walker said with a chuckle. "We will not get treated that way if we were just normal people that didn't play basketball."
He chuckled again.
"Maybe we were good people who just didn't have the talent to play basketball," Walker said. "We were going to try to see where life takes us. Would I be treated the same way? Nope. And I know that."
When asked how this made him feel, Walker said, "I'm torn. I know if I was just a regular person, I could be in the same position as any of these young black men who have died over the years. I'm not going to shy away from that.
"But at the same time, I understand I was very good in basketball ... . That's what separates us. I'm almost embarrassed."
In explaining the difference being a basketball hero can make, Sean Woods, one of UK's "Unforgettables," echoed a sentiment expressed at Muhammad Ali's memorial service. A minister said Ali gave African-Americans a "sense of somebody-ness."
The difference being a basketball hero can make for an African-American?
"You're relevant," Woods said.
