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NEW ORLEANS
When George Shinn was told by New Orleans doctors last week that he had prostate cancer, he reacted the way many patients do.
“I was scared to death,” he says.
He also was skeptical, a not uncommon response. Cancer happens to other people.
Although Shinn, the owner of the New Orleans Hornets, is 68, he's a vigorous 68. He is as much a presence at New Orleans Arena as he was at Charlotte Coliseum in the late 1980s and early '90s before he succumbed to greed and his relationship with the city went bad.
When he stepped onto the court at New Orleans Arena to address fans before the home opener, he received a standing ovation. Not all NBA owners get one, you know.
His Shinn Foundation has generated millions of dollars post-Katrina for the city to which he moved his team seven seasons ago. He works with homeless shelters, children and the elderly. He sponsors a popular senior citizen luncheon. The luncheon has become more popular since he stopped offering corn on the cob.
His Hoops for Homes project has repaired 65 homes. His 12 Days of Giving campaign has touched 50,000 residents. He is helping to start a church.
The 2008 Turnkey Team Brand Index, which ranks the value of a team to sponsors, ranked the Hornets third in the NBA and 14th among 122 professional sports franchises.
So he couldn't meekly accept that he was sick. After the initial diagnosis, Shinn and his wife, Denise, went to their home in Florida and he went to the Internet. He needed to learn everything about the disease. He put off a biopsy and told only a few people.
He learned, through a Florida acquaintance, of a doctor in St. Louis who is considered one of the country's top robotic prostrate surgeons at one of the country's top hospitals. When the doctor heard of Shinn's interest, he called Shinn.
Shinn and Denise flew to St. Louis and he had the biopsy. Shinn learned Monday he did, indeed, have prostate cancer. He told his staff from St. Louis Friday via telephone, text and e-mail.
I talked to him by telephone late Friday afternoon. He was in Barnes Jewish Hospital, awaiting another test. I was in one of the Hornets' offices. On the desk in front of me were two bobbleheads – one of head coach Byron Scott and the other of point guard and former Wake Forest star Chris Paul.
After our interview, the first Shinn has done since the diagnosis, he learned the disease had not spread to the bones. When the cancer is localized, the survival dramatically improves.
“I'm confident,” he says.
The telephone cuts off. Shinn stepped outside and called back.
He says he was moved by the more than 100 e-mails he received Friday, when the cancer became public, from the NBA and, especially, from fans and friends in New Orleans.
“I'm as happy as I have ever been,” Shinn says. “I care about the people and they appear to care about me.”
But he acknowledges that his early Charlotte experience will never be matched. He brought professional sports to town in 1988 and his Hornets regularly led the league in attendance.
A thing can be new only once. Not even the Carolina Panthers can replicate the warmth of the city's embrace.
“That was unique,” Shinn says.
He emphasized that he has too much to live for to allow the disease to stop him. He has three children but adds that none are married. He wants grandchildren. He wants an NBA championship.
“We have the potential,” Shinn says of his team. “Chris Paul is the best point guard in the league and we have (forward) David West and now (Emeka) Okafor.”
Although New Orleans has struggled, Okafor, whom the Hornets acquired in a trade before the season with the Charlotte Bobcats, has played well.
In Charlotte, Shinn devolved from hero to anti-hero. He stuck to the shadows. He stopped going to games.
New Orleans offered an opportunity to be George Shinn again. That's him mingling with fans at the ma-and-pa diner, passing out books to children and serving food to senior citizens that does not include corn on the cob. The cob is an avowed enemy of dentures.
“I'm still full of life and fight,” Shinn says. “I have so much that I want to do. I want to start the church. I want to be part of the community. And I want to be a better person.”
