Jim Beam column:Dumars has strong family ties
Published 6:50 am Saturday, October 11, 2025
(Editor’s Note: Jim Beam has a tendon problem on his right hand and will publish some columns from the past until it heals).
From Sunday, June 17, 1990
Fathers have a tremendous influence on our lives, but do we really understand and appreciate the role fathers play? We observe Father’s Day with appropriate gifts but many of us fail to grasp the significance of the celebration.
All too often — because of manly pride — our fathers are gone before we tell them how much we love them and how they have enriched our lives by their own example.
There are exceptions. One is Joe Dumars III, a member of the world champion Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association.
Dumars expressed his love for his father in a unique way after the Detroit Pistons won the NBA championship last year.
The special relationship Dumars had with his father was the subject of a story in the April 22 issue of Parade magazine titled “The Ring Goes To My Father.”
Joe Dumars Jr., Joe’s father, died last week, but the legacy he left lives on in the son and with others whose lives he touched.
The Pistons repeated as NBA champions this year. We like to see nice guys finish first occasionally, and that’s why seeing Dumars named most valuable player in last year’s championship series against the Los Angeles Lakers was especially satisfying for his fans.
As the Parade article mentioned, Dumars’ first basketball goal was a bicycle rim hammered to a door sawed in half which was nailed to a post in the backyard of the family’s Natchitoches home.
Joe’s father dropped out of school in the seventh grade, but all seven of his children attended college. Joe attended McNeese State University and has given McNeese national recognition.
Joe learned last year that his father, stricken with diabetes, had suffered another heart attack. He eventually lost both his legs because of the diabetes, which contributed to strokes and congestive heart failure.
Joe found out Sunday that his father had died 90 minutes before the Pistons’ third playoff game with the Portland Trail Blazers. It was an agonizing decision, but he eventually decided to stay in Portland for two more games through Thursday night.
“I knew my papa would want me to stay,” Dumars said. “I put myself in his situation. He’s gone through adversity for 21 years and he toughed it out.”
Joe told Parade in April that the best things his parents gave him were “teaching me about hard work and learning to accept things as they are.”
An Associated Press writer paid special tribute to Joe following Thursday night’s fifth and deciding NBA game.
“Isiah Thomas was the most valuable player. Joe Dumars may have been the most valuable person,” he wrote.
“Detroit’s two MVPs, one through his brilliant play, the other through his personality and perseverance after his father’s death, led the Pistons to their second consecutive NBA title Thursday night.”
And how does Joe feel about his phenomenal success? He’s worked hard and he’s proud, he told Parade, but mostly he’s glad his parents are able to enjoy his success.
Ask anyone who knows him and they will tell you Joe Dumars III is a class act. He has earned the respect of everyone he meets on and off the basketball floor.
Detroit center Bill Laimbeer said of his teammate, “He knows what to do in every situation, both from a basketball standpoint and a life standpoint.”
Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls said getting to know and to become a close friend of Dumars was the highlight of his experiences at the All Star weekend.
A Houston Chronicle writer referred to the two men as “Quiet Joe and Air Jordan,” two superstars who have maintained a sense of humility.
Dumars lives by his dad’s example, and the values he learned while growing up are being passed along to others. He speaks to youngsters often, many of them in his home state.
“A lot of kids in this area are not exposed to much,” he told Parade. I tell them they can do the same things as anybody else, because I was one of them. I tell them not to think of themselves as any less or any different.”
The relationship enjoyed by Joe Dumars III and his dad is what this special Father’s Day is all about.