Congratulations to Dr. Richard Lapchick, or as he is better known in Yonkers, as Richie, for his recent honor of being named the recipient of the Stuart Scott ENSPIRE Award from ESPN. Lapchick received the award at the ESPY’s July 12.
Here is a brief bio of Lapchick, followed by the ESPN statement.
Richie Lapchick is a Yonkers native, raised in Park Hill. He attended School 13, Hawthorne Junior High, Manhattan Prep, St. John’s U. He did his graduate studies at the University of Denver. He is known to be a passionate human rights activist working for racial equality and against trafficking, an internationally recognized expert on sports issues, a scholar and an author. Lapchick was the Endowed Chair and Director of the De Los Sport Business Management Program at the College of Business Administration, University of Central Florida. He is President/CEO of the National Consortium for Academics and Sport (NCAS), a school outreach program which focuses on teaching youth how to improve race relations, and develop conflict resolution skills.
In the 1970s, he began fighting apartheid, and led the fight against South Africa’s participating in international sports, especially the Davis Cup. A prolific writer and reformer, he has won many awards for his activism and being the “conscience of basketball.”
His father was basketball great Joe Lapchick: Mr. Lapchick played with the Original Celtics in the 1920s and 1930s, and was considered the best center of his era. After ending his playing career in 1936, Lapchick became head coach at St. John’s University, a position he held until 1947 when he took over the New York Knicks in the newly formed Basketball Association of America. Lapchick coached the Knicks until 1957, leading them to three consecutive NBA Finals appearances (1951–53). He returned to St. John’s, coaching there until he retired.
While with the Knicks, Mr. Lapchick signed Nathaniel “Sweetwater” Clifton, one of major league’s first African-American players, taking great criticism and threats. In fact Richard remembers his father being hung in effigy near his home. Joe Lapchick died in 1970, and is buried in Oakland Cemetery.
From ESPN: Richard Lapchick, a champion for human rights, pioneer for racial equality and eminent scholar at the University of Central Florida, will be honored by ESPN with one of its signature ESPY Awards.
Lapchick will receive the Stuart Scott ENSPIRE Award named in honor of the late ESPN commentator Stuart Scott. The award celebrates “individuals that have taken risks and used an innovative approach to helping the disadvantaged through the power of sports.” His award will be featured in the ESPYS Preview Show on Tuesday, July 11, and Lapchick also will attend the main ESPY Awards show Wednesday, July 12, in Los Angeles.
The honor is part of the ninth annual Sports Humanitarian Awards, which celebrates the impact of athletes, teams and sports industry professionals who are using sports to make a difference in their communities and throughout the world.
The award is just one of a long string of honors for Lapchick, who 22 years ago founded the DeVos Sport Business Management Program and The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at UCF. He stepped down as leader of the DeVos program two years ago and continues to lead TIDES.
In 1976, Lapchick created the American Coordinating Committee for Equality in Sport in alliance with the anti-Apartheid movement. In 1985, he founded The Institute for Sport and Social Justice to use the power and appeal of sport to positively impact society. In 2022, The Institute facilitated nearly 200 training sessions for more than 5,000 students-athletes, coaches and administrators.
Under Lapchick’s leadership, TIDES publishes the Racial and Gender Report Card, an annual analysis of racial and gender hiring practices for all major sports leagues and the sports media.
In 2021, Lapchick was named the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian of the Year by the Muhammad Ali Center; he and Ali were close friends for nearly four decades before Ali died in 2016
