THE BEST OF THE BESTS

By Frederick A. Hurst

He’s a nice man who raised nice kids in a nice house on Quincy Street in the heart Springfield’s Mason Square neighborhood. Born in 1939, when being Black in America was much less popular and far more disadvantageous, he still managed to complete high school—where he was an outstanding basketball player—attend college, marry, raise five kids and become the distinguished parent of an NBA basketball star, who played for the Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks.

Leo Best was blessed with two grandparents who taught him the value of family, hard work and education. He was born on Essex Street in the North End of Springfield, moved to Hartford briefly and, at eight years old, returned to Springfield to live on the “Hill” in Springfield’s Six Corner’s neighborhood. When he was ten, his father died and his grandmother, who was 50 years old, took Leo and his siblings in, and she and her husband raised them as their own. He wasn’t without other father figures, however. He spent lots of his youthful days at the Dunbar, where Dicky Burr and Howie Edmunds, “made us into gentlemen.”

Leo attended Elias Brookings elementary school and followed his older brother to Buckingham Jr. High, where Leo became an outstanding basketball player and scholar. In his ninth grade year at Buckingham, his team, which he captained, went undefeated. They even played and defeated the Commerce High School freshman team. His success was not without familiar precedent. His eighth grade team, captained by his brother, was also undefeated, as was his seventh grade team, captained by his cousin, Archie Best.

Leo, the scholar/athlete, graduated Magna Cum Laude from Buckingham Jr. High School and, bucking the trend of the times, attended Classical High School where he played basketball for three years. He was all-City and all-Western Mass in his junior year. He also won the Lahovich Award in his junior and senior years making him the first Black double winner. He topped his Classical career off by being the team’s top scorer in his senior year.

His developing career in full swing, Leo enrolled in Springfield College where he played on the only undefeated freshman team in the history of the college. He was the only Black player and the top scorer on the team. But the times were to slow him down. The early sixties were tough times for a Black man to aspire to the NBA. Few were accepted and as Leo said, “Though I had the ability, I would have had a hard time getting in.”

Leo has no regrets. He was honored to play ball along with some of the best local talent of his time—George Blake, John Johnston, Tom Brown, Archie Best—and so many more. He played on school teams, church teams, Boys Club and Dunbar teams and after college, he played on countless pickup teams. He played his last basketball game at the age of 24 and never looked back.

But in another sense, Leo has never left the game. He got married in his second year at Springfield College. He took a job at H. P. Hood where he worked for 36 years until he retired five years ago. During those 36 years, he had three boys and two girls. They have all prospered and made their father proud but none as much as NBA professional, Travis Best.

Much like his father, Travis Best was a basketball powerhouse while playing at the High School of Commerce and Georgia Tech. He remains a prominent NBA player. Unlike in his father’s basketball days, competence trumped color. Leo has always followed his son’s career closely. Part of the reason Leo retired early was to be able to travel around the country to watch his son’s professional games.

Leo’s pride in Travis shows through his words and demeanor. He is most proud that Travis has remained humble and shares his wealth with family. Leo is too humble himself to say it, but Travis comes by his humility honestly. As they say, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” and Leo has been a perfect model for family and the many others who have had the pleasure of his company. Both on and off the court, Leo remains one of the best of the Bests. n