- [Male Voice] Coming up on
Legacy List with Matt Paxton.
The team is in Columbus,
Ohio to help an NBA legend
and his wife settle
into their forever home.
Over the years, the family
has moved several times
and many of their belongings
are still in boxes.
- [Cheryl] Wall-to-wall,
floor-to-ceiling, front-to-back.
- [Matt] That includes
a treasure trove
of championship collectibles.
- Autographed by
Shaquille O'Neil.
- [Mike] Oh my gosh.
- [Matt] I'm Matt Paxton.
Let's do it, man.
My team of specialists,
Jaime, Mike and Avi
help me help people
downsize their homes
and settle estates.
As the largest population
of baby boomers
in American history
transition towards retirement,
they and their families
face the overwhelming task
of emptying their homes to move.
We help them sift through
a lifetime of possessions-
- Bingo.
- [Matt] heirlooms
and collectibles...
We have a literally
found a piece of history.
To help them find the
missing family treasures
that mean the most to them.
- Oh, my goodness.
- [Matt] Jackie Robinson.
And along the way,
they'll discover that the most
important museum in the world
may be in their
family's basement.
- Oh.
- Oh.
- I've never seen that.
That is cool looking.
- From attics to cellars,
closets to cupboards,
we uncover the memories
they want to preserve.
This is living history.
This is what we're here to find.
Let's go.
- Let's go.
- [Matt] And discover
the compelling, personal,
and often historical stories
spanning generations that
are their family's legacy.
(upbeat music stops)
(birds chirping)
- [Female Voice]
Funding for Legacy List
is provided by Bekins Van Lines.
At Bekins, our
goal is to provide
a smooth and simple
moving experience
no matter the size or
distance of your move.
Bekins is ready to
help you get there.
You can find us at bekins.com.
Bekins.
This is Moving.
- [Female Voice]
FirstLight Home Care.
Committed to providing safe
and compassionate home services
for you and your family.
FirstLight believes personal
relationships and engagement
are as important as mobility,
bathing and personal hygiene.
Details at
firstlighthomecare.com.
- [Female Voice]
The Mavins Group,
a downsizing real estate sales
and move management company
committed to easing the
emotional and physical demands
of beginning a
new stage of life.
The Mavins Group.
So much more than a move.
- [Female Voice]
Insure Long Term Care,
where we believe
that aging at home,
your friends and family
is ever more possible
for more people.
Learn more at insureltc.com.
- [Female Voice] And by the
Ruth Camp Campbell Foundation.
(upbeat music ends)
(upbeat cheerful music starts)
- Today I'm in Columbus, Ohio,
capital of the Buckeye state.
I'm here to meet Jim
and Cheryl Cleamons.
They've been moving for 20
years because of Jim's job,
and now that they're retired,
they need help settling
into their forever home
because they're tired
of living out of boxes.
(upbeat cheerful music)
(soft knocking)
Hello, hello.
- Hey.
How are you.
So good to meet you.
- Good to finally
meet you in person.
- Yes, sir.
- Coach, good to see you, man.
- Nice to see you.
- Thank you, thank you.
This is awesome.
- Yeah.
- Very cool.
(upbeat cheerful music)
Tell me why we're here.
Give me the whole story.
- We're literally downsizing.
We're kind of downsizing
different than most people do.
Instead of downsizing
in actual house size
we're taking multiple
houses that we have here
and downsizing them into one.
- Everywhere you've lived you
all have boxes in each place.
- Oh, yeah.
So we have boxes from
New Orleans, from Dallas,
from Chicago, from Los Angeles.
Oh, my God.
And there's Oklahoma, Milwaukee-
- Everything.
- and New York.
So yeah.
- So it's all now to come here.
- All here in Ohio.
- Okay.
All right, and that's
where we're retiring.
- This is where we are.
- Okay, are we retired or not?
- This is where we are.
I'm too young to retire.
- Fair enough, okay.
All right, all right.
Okay, are you retired,
or you're not?
- I'm still active-
- Okay.
- and if the right job
or opportunity came along
I would certainly think about it
because it's still in my blood.
- Okay.
Jim's career is amazing.
As a player he played
with Jerry West,
Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor.
He even won a NBA
Championship as a rookie
and then he went on to
coach with Phil Jackson
and some of the best.
Kobe, Shaq and Jordan
and Pippen with Chicago.
You are a teacher educator.
- [Jim] Yes.
- [Matt] You were a player.
- [Jim] Yes.
- And then the world would
label you a coach at one point.
- Well, I don't mind
what others say.
I do.
I would hope that the
proof is in the pudding
as to how well I do it and
those that listened to me
and understand what
I'm trying to do
is make our communities
and our young people
who want to aspire
to be athletes, make
them better people.
- Okay.
The proof is in the
pudding with your story.
You've won a few championships.
- I've been fortunate enough
to go to 12 NBA Championships
and of the 12 I've been
to our teams have won 10.
- Okay, so nine as a teacher-
- One as a player.
- one as a player.
- Kinda cool.
- It is very cool.
- [Cheryl] It is very cool.
- [Matt] It is very cool.
- [Cheryl] Yeah.
(upbeat cheerful music)
- All right, so this is
where the real stuff is.
- Yes.
We're getting there.
- All right.
- [Cheryl] We're getting there.
- [Matt] So walk
me through this.
How did we get like this?
'Cause you're an ordered person.
- I got stuck.
- Okay, when?
- I got stuck here.
- What got y'all stuck?
What do you think?
- Time.
- Sentiment.
- Sentiment, okay.
- I look at the boxes
and I think, gosh,
who knows where they're from?
Can be from 10 different cities.
- [Cheryl] It could be.
- Jim's got his first year
off in a very long time
and although I think
he's kind of on the bench
ready to go again, they finally
got a pause in his career
and they can unpack
all their stuff.
How much of this stuff
is your adult children's?
- Oh, 75.
- There's a lot of emotions
and the kids have
been in college
and we don't want to discard
anything that they want.
So we have been, not
necessarily dysfunctional,
but waiting to get together.
- We've given them the
opportunity through high school,
through the
beginnings of college.
Now, it's my turn to help them.
- Okay.
How many kids do y'all have?
- We have two daughters.
- Oh, you remembered.
Okay, good.
Just wanted to see
if you remember.
- Yeah.
- All right,
so we got all these
boxes over here
and then we've got all
these boxes over here,
but I know it doesn't add up.
Where's the real volume?
- Okay, you ready?
- I'm ready.
(upbeat cheerful music)
- All right, here we go.
- [Matt] Show me this.
- [Jim] You got
your eyes closed?
- [Cheryl] There's
two doors, remember?
- [Matt] All right.
- So we're talking about
wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling,
front-to-back.
- Okay, this is real.
- It's just a little bit.
It's real.
- Crates, furniture.
I mean, it's really
two garages deep.
It's doable.
I mean, I've got a big
team we'll bring in here.
What's this space do
when we're done with it?
It'll be emptied.
- It's a house.
- A house for this car?
- Yes.
- All right, this is gorgeous.
- My mom bought it from
my brother in 1973.
He learned how to drive on it.
And then he taught my sister
and then she learned
how to drive on it.
And then she taught
me how to drive on it.
It's not allowed to
leave the family.
- [Matt] All right.
- [Jim] Not at this point.
- [Matt] This is going
to be a lot of work,
but if we can empty this
space, get it more organized,
make enough space for this
car, uncover a few items,
will this be enough to
get you guys started?
- That'd be great to
get to get me started.
- So the only thing left
to do is for us go inside.
I'm want to sit down
and I want to learn about
everything on your Legacy List.
- Okay.
- Are you ready?
- Let's do it.
- Okay.
(upbeat music stops)
(upbeat music starts)
- We're here to help you as
opposed to kind of save you.
A lot of families are lost.
They don't know what to do.
Think y'all just
need help physically.
It's a little different.
So the stuff part
is pretty easy.
All right, we're going to
organize the room behind me.
Then we're going to spend
majority of the time
in the garage.
- Yes.
- That's the real, I think,
holding everybody back, right.
Normally, we have you
guys just kind of go away
and let us do our thing, but
I think, one, I want you there
just because you
know all the answers
and I just want to hear
your stories to be honest.
So I hope that you'll
be there with us.
It's a lot, but we can do it.
All right, main reason
we're here, Legacy List.
- Okay.
- And I am very excited
to hear what's on your
ultimate Legacy List.
- Oh, well we do
have a few items
that are out there that
we're kind of looking for.
- Okay.
- Quite frankly, I think
I've got some sports jewelry
out there.
- Okay, walk me through
the sports jewelry.
What is that?
- When they won a championship,
I worked really hard for
it too so I got a gift.
- So as a girlfriend,
I got a necklace,
and as a wife, I got
a couple of rings too.
- Okay, so the wives
or the partners,
they also get some type of...
- They can get if their
significant other-
- Are as amazing as yours.
- Yes, and they deem that.
- So I have one pendant
and I think three rings.
- Okay, I've never seen any
of these championship rings.
I don't know what
they would look like.
If by any chance, would
you have a ring to show me
what it would look
like or anything?
- I have a couple.
You wanna see them?
- Yeah, I'd love to
see at least one.
Yeah.
When I realized I was going
to Jim Cleamons house,
I got excited because I
know he's got 10 NBA rings,
but I was glad he
knew where they were.
So they weren't on
the Legacy List.
Man, this is...
I mean, this is real history.
- It's pretty cool, isn't it?
- It's really cool.
You have 10 rings.
Do you ever just wear
them out, like all 10?
I can't see you do it.
- As proud as I
am of those rings,
my favorite is not
a championship ring.
It's a ring that was given
to us as team members
in commemorance of
winning 33 games in a row.
- [Cheryl] It's
still the record too.
- Yeah, it's still the record.
Most wins in a row.
And I was kind of just trying
to act like I'd
been there before
and not show that I
was really excited,
but it was fascinating to
actually hold these things.
So what else do we have?
- He still has the
training and practice books
from during his time
and they should be in
a box in the garage
and that's on the list.
- That's on the Legacy List?
- That's on the
list to look for.
- Each day we have
a practice plan.
It's almost like a teacher's.
Which were accomplished today?
- So the equation for
success is in these books.
Okay.
- We've got like
little pink shoes.
Little girl's dance shoes
that our little dancer,
our daughter, Imani.
- And she's now...
- Wizards dancer.
- She's now a Wizards dancer.
And you started off as a dancer.
- I danced, yes.
I'm a World Champion
Cheerleader.
- There it is.
(Cheryl laughs)
- [Matt] All right,
what else we have?
- So he's got some scrapbooks
that were created for them.
- Yeah, walk me through that.
You said someone
gave you as a gift.
- Yeah, we had a young man
who worked in the sports
information department.
Unbeknownst to me he'd
been keeping a scrapbook
of basically my
entire college career
and they were in
binders like this.
- Wow.
- But he taken the time to
put this together for me
and like I said, it was
one of the kindest gestures
someone's ever done.
I know we had it.
Now, the question is,
do we still have it?
- So my grandma,
bless her heart,
she used to hand
make our quilts.
So she used to hand
cut her patterns
and it looked like
a little baby doll
and she'd created
these little squares.
And then when you flip the
quilt over, it was very cool
because they were made
out of flour sacks.
And so it would say Birmingham
Alabama Flour Company
so it was like...
And so it was pretty cool and
I'm very attached to them.
So hopefully it's there.
- All right, what
else do we have?
- I have a couple more things.
- I'm in.
- One thing that I think
means a lot to both of us
is our wedding
brooms are out there.
I'm not sure if you
know what those are.
- You would jump the broom.
- Absolutely, we did,
and there's the picture.
- Walk me through the
historical significance
- Of jumping the broom?
- Yeah.
- During slavery, slaves
weren't allowed to marry.
So it signified their
commitment to each other
and that's the moment
that they became connected
and married.
- Jumping the broom is a popular
ritual at black weddings.
Once a couple is pronounced
married, they hold hands,
face the crowd and jump over
a broomstick on the floor.
It's a custom that's been
around for hundreds of years.
When enslaved couples were
forbidden from legally marrying,
they would jump the broom
to signify their
commitment to each other.
Some speculate the
practice started in Ghana.
Other historians trace it
back to the Romany communities
of 18th century Wales.
You might need a broom
to sweep up after another
popular wedding tradition,
throwing rice,
possibly dating back
to the ancient Romans.
The ritual is meant to symbolize
fertility and prosperity.
These days some couples
go against the grain
and opt for pedals
or even bubbles.
A Jewish wedding ceremony
ends with stomping on
a cloth-wrapped glass.
Traditionally, the
groom does the smashing.
Nowadays, both
spouses may take part.
Some interpret the broken glass
as a reminder of
life's fragility.
Even at joyous ceremonies,
we carry the sorrow
of our ancestors.
As soon as the glass breaks
guests shout mazel tov.
Which marriage tradition
is actually a relatively
recent invention?
Diamond engagement rings.
Turns out diamonds are
a girl's best friend
thanks to marketers.
In 1947, ad copywriter,
Mary Francis Garrity
coined the famous slogan,
"A diamond is forever."
and the diamond ring
took off in popularity.
Whatever you do to say "I do"
the memories and keepsakes
can last a lifetime.
- So yeah, the final
thing on the list.
Most of the stuff been out there
it's been packed for
the last 16 years
since hurricane Katrina.
- Oh, you were there?
- Oh, yes, my birthday weekend.
We were having a birthday party
until we got jumped in the
car with 1.5 million people
and drove away from New Orleans,
in what, walls of water?
- Man, I can't imagine.
Coach, you're pretty Zen, man.
You're pretty chill.
I'm curious, hearing
these stories,
what does it make you
think, make you feel?
- Thankful that it
wasn't any worse.
Being caught on a
bridge, sun shining,
and within the next 45
minutes it's pitch dark.
- Still on the bridge.
- Still on the bridge.
Bumper to bumper.
- The water was-
- We were bumper to bumper.
- We could not see
anything around us.
We were just kind of in the car
just waiting to
see what happens.
- That was really emotional
to think that like, they
just took what they could
and they left and they hoped
they'd get out of there.
And that really puts
a lot in perspective.
- Ironically, we were
unpacking our house
'cause we had just moved in
it when we had evacuated.
- So it was all packed up.
- So it was still in the garage
packed up for the most part
and all over the house.
So literally things that
are out there packed,
they've been packed since 2005.
- Well, I was worried
we'd have nothing to talk
about other than basketball.
Clearly, that's not the case.
We've got a lot to talk about.
I've got my marching orders.
This is...
I'm excited to get in there.
There's some real actual
history in your garage.
(upbeat cheerful music)
- [Cheryl] All
right, where is he?
He's hiding.
- Yeah, there he is.
- There he is.
- What's up guys.
- [Avi] How's it going?
- [Mike] Hi, Matt.
- [Jaime] Hey.
- Welcome to Columbus.
- [Avi] Thanks.
- [Jaime] This is beautiful.
- Ohio, Ohio.
- Beautiful home.
Great family.
We have a lot of
work to do this week.
- What else is new?
- Did Gabe send to
you the research?
- Yup.
- Jim and Cheryl Cleamons.
Amazing family.
You know, was an NBA
coach for many years.
They've moved over 10
times over 20 years.
- [Mike] Wow.
- That's a lot of moves.
- [Matt] Yeah.
- That's overwhelming.
- That's why we're here-
- Yeah.
- all right.
- It's interesting
to be on this side
of it, you know.
Like, usually we're in a house
to help somebody move out,
but this time they moved in
and we're still
trying to help them
kind of figure out
where things go.
- They need to settle.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
And they've just
never been able to,
because they've always
been moving to the next job
and they're just stuck.
It's really weighing them down.
I mean, their whole
life is on hold.
- Yeah.
The task of unpacking
is very daunting.
Especially when you have boxes
that you haven't looked
at in 15 or 20 years.
So I can understand why
Cheryl and Jim are hesitant
to really start the
unpacking process.
- Legacy List is wedding brooms.
- Wedding brooms.
- Wedding brooms.
- The original wedding rooms.
Cheryl was a professional
dancer in the NBA
with the Chicago Bulls,
and then now, this daughter,
she just became a dancer
for the Washington Wizards.
- What?
- Yeah,
and so now we've got to find
her little baby dance shoes
which is pretty cool.
Cheryl's grandma was
a quilter in Alabama.
- Oh, wow.
- Just amazing,
beautiful quilts.
We've got to find those.
We've got a whole bunch
of stuff from Katrina.
So we just want to
put that to the side
so the family can
really go through that.
That's going to be
really important
to go through those boxes.
And then we've got a ton
of sports memorabilia.
And when I say a
ton, I mean a ton.
- As I started to learn
about Jim and his career,
I was so excited because
I was a huge Bulls fan,
huge Lakers fan
and I could not wait to see
what kind of memorabilia he had.
- Just remember when you
find a pair of shoes,
they don't necessarily just
go right into the donation.
(laughing)
- It could be Michael Jordan's.
- It could be Kobe's
or it could be Shaq's.
I think you'll know if
you find Shaq's shoes.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
(crosstalk)
- Anything they can donate
to make someone's life better
they would like to do that.
- Cool.
- So re-homing is the
word we're gonna use here?
Donating.
We're not really looking
at sell as an option.
So you and I will start
picking out here this morning
and then I need you to
bring the full team in.
And I mean, we really need
to be able to pull a car
into that garage.
- Are you going to show
us what's behind the door?
- [Matt] Do you want to see it?
- [Jaime] I do want to see it.
- [Mike] Rip the bandaid off.
- [Matt] Okay, here we go.
- [Jaime] Oh, yeah,
you weren't lying.
- [Matt] No, it's a lot.
- [Jaime] You we're not lying.
Oh, my goodness.
- When I looked at it,
it looked like it was
just a two car garage.
I didn't realize how
far back it went.
- All right, we'll
see you in a bit.
- All, right we will see you.
- Good luck.
(upbeat cheerful music)
- Furniture.
A lot of furniture on the side.
(upbeat cheerful music)
- When you walk into
the living room,
you expect it to be a
room you can live in.
In this case, not so much.
- It honestly looked like the
moving truck had just left.
- One, two, three.
Let's just go against
the side of the house.
- Okay.
- This is great.
- Oh, my God.
Keeping you back out here.
- Avi and I found a ton of
stuff in the family room.
We found boxes full of
old board games, puzzles,
a box of crayons that
belong to their daughters
when they were little
that still smelled
like crayons smell.
Does that not bring
back your childhood?
- God, I'm at my desk in
first grade right now.
(upbeat music)
- Hey Mike, come
here real quick.
I need help with this.
- All right.
- Just pull on the outside.
- I think I found
some cool stuff.
Whoa.
Yep, I did.
Pretty quickly,
Mike and I find incredible
basketball history.
Look at all these balls.
- Oh my God.
What is that?
- It's Mr Cleamons'.
- 1993.
- Oh, no way.
- This is the 1993
Chicago Bulls.
To sit there and hold a ball
from the NBA Championship game
signed by all these
amazing players.
That was a really special thing.
Michael Jordan there.
- Oh, my gosh.
Look where he signed it.
- Of course.
(Matt laughs)
Wow, man, this is crazy.
- It should be in
a museum somewhere,
but it is in this garage.
- What team is that?
That would be '91.
- This is Bill Kurt, right.
- '91 World Champion.
- Will Perdue.
- I've never found
anything like this.
- Yeah.
- Thing is insane.
- If I had one of these, I
would build a shrine for it.
- I mean, and I get it.
I guess once you, you
know, have this many,
you get like-
- A little jaded.
- Yeah, it's not as big a deal
when you got, you
know, 10 of them.
(upbeat music)
- [Male Voice] Basketball.
It's a sport played
around the world,
but its roots are
uniquely American.
It all begins in Springfield,
Massachusetts in 1891.
A YMCA instructor by the
name of James Naismith
wants to keep bored
students distracted
while they're stuck indoors
throughout a harsh winter.
His solution, peach baskets.
He nails two on wooden poles
and challenges students to
throw the ball into a basket.
The first game is chaos.
Players tackle each other and
only a single basket is made.
Naismith realizes he has
to set some ground rules.
The most important, no
running with the ball.
Naismith writes up the
first official rule book
and the game of
basketball takes off.
It's a big hit with colleges
and in 1946, a
professional league,
the Basketball Association
of America is formed.
The league is a success, but
it takes another four years
before the first
African-American player,
Chuck Cooper is drafted.
The college game takes even
longer to accept black players.
The watershed moment
comes on March 19th, 1966.
That's the night an
all-black starting five
from Texas Western College
defeats the powerful and
all-white team from Kentucky
for the National Championship.
Colleges across the country
slowly began offering
scholarships to players
based on talent, not skin color.
For over 50 years,
the popularity of both
college and pro basketball
has been a slam dunk.
Thanks to television rights
and superstar players
basketball is now a
billion dollar business
that spans the globe.
Basketball has come a long
way since that first game
and its future looks
down right peachy.
(children chattering)
(upbeat rock music)
- I just don't want to...
- All right, I'll
go through these.
- Yeah, this is unbelievable.
I know that color.
- Oh, no.
I've got this.
- Take that.
- I think I know what this is.
- You know that's Lakers colors.
- Yeah.
He coached for them
and played for them.
- Oh, my gosh.
- Shaquille O'Neil, 34.
Look at the back.
Look on the number.
(Mike gasps)
Autographed by Shaquille O'Neil.
- Oh, my gosh.
That is crazy.
- Holy cow.
Shaq Diesel.
As a guy that grew up
watching basketball,
this is an incredible
garage to clean out,
but we have to
remember, for Cheryl,
this is just her husband's junk
and she's been hauling
it around for 25 years
and she just wants it gone.
(upbeat cheerful music ends)
(upbeat cheerful music)
- One of the things we found
as we were looking
through the boxes
was one of the
Legacy List items.
It was the quilt.
Quilts?
- Some of them.
It was actually in a box
with some other baby blankets
that belong to their daughters.
Look at that.
- [Avi] Oh, yeah.
- I think when we have
these family heirlooms
that were actually handmade
by generations past,
it adds another layer
of sentimental value
and that's why I think this
quilt is important to Cheryl.
- This is awesome find here.
We're looking forward to
sharing it with Cheryl.
(upbeat music)
- Look at this.
Michael Jordan autograph.
- '92.
- '92.
- Wow.
- 99 out of a hundred times
I tell everybody
recycle the magazines.
Not this stack, man.
- No.
- Look at this.
Dude, what.
This is insane.
It's amazing.
All the collectibles
have skyrocketed,
especially sports memorabilia,
and it was really fascinating
to see how much history
was in that garage.
(upbeat music)
- All right, I mean we...
- The tri...
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
The triangle offense.
- Yeah.
I mean, this is insane, dude.
This is coach's notes.
- Oh.
- Coach's notes from
those Bulls teams.
He's taking these at practices
and developing plays.
- That's awesome.
One of the really key factors
of collecting is the provenance
and being able to trace
the history of the items.
There is no question
he was right there
and he was getting
these things signed
from the players
and coaches himself.
- I guess this would be
handed out to the players
to tell how long ago it was.
Hand them handouts.
It's like, go memorize this.
All right, okay, look.
I mean, we're not even
putting a dent in this room
and we're all ready
have found more work
than you could ever have.
Let's call Jaime
and Avi in here.
- All right.
- Got to get everybody in here.
Kind of an all hands on
deck to go through all this.
- Okay.
(upbeat music ends)
(upbeat music starts)
- Me and my team,
we're going to start
and we're going
to need you or Jim
to really help us make
some of these decisions.
- I'm confident
80% Of the furniture that's
in here could be donated.
- Okay.
As soon as I met Cheryl,
I knew she was a
take-charge kind of woman.
She was going to be able
to make the decisions
that we needed to be made in
a really efficient manner.
- Where are we starting?
- Well, I mean, you know,
we've got this
furniture right here.
I think it's like a
Murphy bed or something.
- It is.
It's a Murphy bed and it is
usable and it's a donation.
- All right.
- So we need to find it a home.
- [Mike] Boom.
- [Cheryl] Okay, excellent.
- Done.
- The tall one behind you.
- All right.
- Boom.
- Boom.
- I like this process.
I'm all in, let's go.
- I see there's a lot of clothes
and I'm sure there's a lot
more back here somewhere.
Is there anywhere in particular
we should look at
donating them to?
- I always thought
that when people got
out of incarceration
they got something,
but they are
released with nothing
and they're put
in work programs.
And so I thought it'd be a good
place to maybe find a place
that could help them with
some of these clothes.
And then I know
that the Urban League of
Columbus has My Brother's Closet
and I know
that a few of these clothes
could work well there.
I think that would
be helpful for them.
- All right, that's great.
There's some big
pieces of furniture.
Like this is big.
- Yeah, there's something
bigger back there.
Maybe two or three things
that are bigger back here.
- All right, well, the good news
is with big pieces of furniture
they create big pockets
of space when they leave.
- That's awesome.
- So we get a few
of those things out
we're well on our way to
fitting a car in here.
- That's cool.
- All right.
Thanks, Cheryl.
- I can do that.
(upbeat music)
- I've moved my
kids and it's a lot.
It's a lot to put on a
family to pick them up
and move them one time and
they've done it 10 plus times.
I mean, these girls are amazing
to know they've had to pack up
and move over and
over and over again.
- How many times have we moved?
- I honestly can't say.
I don't know how many
times we've moved.
Mostly when we were younger
and then it stopped once
we got into high school.
- I remember moving back
and forth to New Orleans
and California.
- A big advantage of that for
me is that we're very close.
Like we're very good friends.
And I know a lot of people
have sibling rivalries
and stuff like that,
but I go to Rose all
the time for everything.
She's basically my best friend.
So moving a lot
created a bond with us
because I know what
she's going through,
she knows what
I'm going through.
- This family had a unique bond.
They've moved across the
country and back again,
but they've always
done it together.
And now they're here
to really put roots
in what's going to
be their family home.
- We're very happy
that you're here
to help us get rid of stuff
and it won't be hard for
anyone except for my dad.
- Yes.
- Yes.
(both laughing)
My mom is very much like
if we're not using it,
if we haven't thought about
it, and we see it, it's out.
We clearly don't need
it at this point.
And I totally agree,
but my dad, I think
he feels kind of more
deeply connected to items
than the rest of us do.
He's definitely
going to be the one
to try and hold on
to as much as he can.
- So we have some clothes to
go through, it looks like.
- Okay.
Yes, we do.
- Yes, we do.
And you know,
I tell people that it's
okay to keep things
that are sentimental,
but we do have to make
some tough decisions-
- We will.
- and we've identified some
great local organizations
that we are going
to donate things to.
So I'll let pick out something
and tell me why you're
ready to get rid of it.
- Okay, those.
And if I got one of those
I probably got five.
- Okay, so we can
let this one go.
- We can let that one go.
- Okay, I'll hold on to the
ones we're going to donate.
Now, I see some
suits over here too.
Are these suits that you
would wear for games?
I mean, I always notice.
I may not be the biggest
sports aficionado,
but I do notice that the
coaches are always dressed.
- I'm not employed right now
so I don't have
to worry about it.
- No.
Jim was ultimately ready to
let go of a lot of these items,
but not before he told the
story of what each one meant.
- This team did
some special stuff
and because they invite
us back to give us these
in commemoration of
the year that we had
that year in that team,
I got to keep this.
- Absolutely.
Yeah, that's definitely a keep.
- Yeah, that's a
keeper right there.
- All right, onto the next rack.
I see some jackets over there.
- Well, this used to be
one of my favorite jackets.
This was an expensive suit.
I remember buying this suit.
(laughing)
Okay.
- Now, that's why a lot
of people keep things
instead of donating
them when they should,
because of what
they paid for them.
It's really about, are
you going to use it?
Go with your gut.
- Go with my gut?
Well, once again, we're
doing someone a solid.
- We're donating them
to the community.
They're absolutely
going to be used.
- And they're going
to want to look good.
And I think that
we should go ahead
and make sure that
they look good.
Dress for success.
- Dress for success.
That's awesome.
(upbeat music)
- I mean, here we are.
More than 15 years after Katrina
and some of the things
that they pack then
are still in boxes.
I bet this is going to be a
really emotional experience
to go through these boxes.
- What is definitely trash?
- Almost everything
Christmasy is trash.
- Okay, I'm going to get
all the Christmas together.
- If you put it all together...
- And then I'm gong to let
you make that decision.
- Just a little bit, yeah.
- I'm just not feeling
like I need to make
any decisions for you.
I want to set it up so
you can make them quickly.
- Yeah, that's
what I would love.
- When you've been waiting
to have your garage
cleaned this long,
it's scary when it
actually happens.
- I'm sorry, I'm about to cry.
I don't want to cry.
- No, you don't need to cry.
It's all right.
Thank you for trusting us.
I know this is hard.
As we start to
unpack these boxes,
we have to be very careful.
We have to go at the right pace
and we have to keep
Cheryl in charge
or otherwise it's just
too much emotion happening
at the same time.
- I think we'll get all
the sports together,
all the holiday together,
all the pictures,
put those together,
and then you can start to make
your decisions pretty quick.
Okay.
You know, we've got a
lot of basketball history
in this house, but we also
have a lot of US history.
I mean, Katrina is
a massive event.
One of the biggest
meteorological events
in our nation's history.
(upbeat ominous music)
- Hurricanes, they're
a force of nature,
capable of destroying
everything in their path.
When warm air rises,
surrounding air rushes in
to replace it.
Storm clouds are formed and
thanks to the Earth's rotation,
begin to spin like
giant atmospheric tops.
When the winds reach
sustained speeds
of at least 74 miles per hour,
they're called a hurricane.
As these super storms approach
land, they're given names.
The tradition of naming storms
started with meteorologist
Clement Wragge
in the late 19th century.
How did he pick the names?
(thunder claps)
Good old fashion grudges.
He named weather events after
politicians he disliked.
Starting in 1953
the National Hurricane Center
began naming Atlantic storms.
Originally, they were
only named after women,
but that changed in 1979
when activist Roxcy
Bolton pointed out
that women shouldn't
take all the blame
for natural disasters.
The deadliest hurricane in US
history took place in 1900.
That's when the city
of Galveston, Texas
was hit by a hurricane
packing winds
of over 140 miles per hour.
Over 10,000 people
lost their lives
and another 10,000
were left homeless.
And then there was
Hurricane Katrina.
On August 29th, 2005,
Hurricane Katrina made landfall
near New Orleans with winds
up to 170 miles per hour.
Levees catastrophically failed
and 80% of the city flooded.
Many were unable to evacuate
and thousands were
forced to flee the city.
All in all over 1 million
Gulf Coast residents
fled their homes.
Still, many residents returned
to rebuild their communities.
Neighbors delivered groceries.
Volunteers provided
free medical care.
In times of
unprecedented tragedy,
people demonstrate
extraordinary generosity.
It seems the one thing a
hurricane can't destroy
is the human spirit.
(upbeat music)
- We were lucky enough
that Jim was ready to
donate some of these suits
and the Urban League was
going to be the beneficiary.
- [Jaime] You got it?
- Yeah.
(indistinct)
- There we go.
Hello.
- Hey, how are you today?
- How are you?
I'm Jaime, nice to meet you.
- Nice to see you.
- I'm Avi.
Nice to meet you.
- Nice to see you too.
Avi, I love that name.
- [Avi] Thank you.
- Well, thank you
for coming over today
to learn more about
My Brother's Closet.
- Absolutely.
Would love to hear a
little bit more about it.
What you all do?
- Sure.
Probably about eight years ago,
our workforce development
program manager
was saying that I'm
trying to get people,
when they were coming in to
do their mock interviews,
we're trying to get
them ready for work.
And he said, but we really
want to get them ready,
not just with the verbal
cues and communications,
but how do we help people to
start looking more appropriate?
So he asked if it was okay
if I went to a local cleaners
and picked up the
shirts that, you know,
people abandon their
clothes for a long time.
And then one day we
had one of our clients.
We were trying to get him
ready for the next day
for his interview and we said
you need to put on your tie
and tuck your shirt in.
And he was really resistant.
He finally tucked his shirt in
and his belt was a coat hanger.
And that's what
he had to lift up.
And so from there that just
inspired the program manager
at the time, and myself, and
said we've got to make sure
we get people suited and booted
because it really plays
into their psyche.
- Absolutely.
- For them to feel good about
going to a job interview...
- You look good, you play good.
- Exactly.
Absolutely.
- Do you want to take a
look at what we brought in
just to make sure
that it's, you know, up to
the standards of donation?
- Oh, sure, and you know,
especially because these
clothes are all ready, you know,
been laundered.
That's really important.
Oh gosh.
And these are also...
These sizes are tall men sizes
and that's really
important to us
because a lot of
times the tall men...
Oh, and there's even
new stuff in here too.
That's really impressive.
Yeah, these are tall men...
And a lot of times our big
and tall men get left out
because there's not a lot
of inventory for them.
So this is fantastic.
- Awesome.
Donating these
clothes was a win-win.
I got them out of the garage
and into the hands of someone
who really needed them.
- Columbus is very lucky
to have the Urban League
and your leadership
and this program.
- This makes a difference
when you're trying
to get people out of
generational poverty.
So we appreciate the
county commissioners
and a lot of the corporate
community and folks who just...
Even we have some old board
members who came in last week.
I got some suits, right.
I'm retired now.
Let me get rid of these suits
and put them in the right place.
- Yeah.
- That's great.
- That's amazing.
(upbeat music)
- We're going through the garage
and there are still Legacy
List items to be found.
We weren't having much
luck in the house.
So with the clock winding
down, we pulled in everybody.
The whole family was there.
We were determined
to get this done.
(paper rustling)
- That is awesome.
- The garage was a
really big emotional job
and thank goodness Mike
and his team were there
because they really were
able to focus in with Cheryl
and get a lot done
in the garage.
(upbeat music)
You can read a line about coach
Cleamons as a professional,
but I wanted to get to know
a little more about him
as a person.
I was really lucky to meet
with his old college teammate,
JT at St. John arena, where
they played basketball.
St. John arena.
So it's been a few years
since you've been here.
- Over half of my life.
What you mean it's
been a few years?
- More than half of your life.
- Yes, indeed.
50 something years.
- Obviously we're not
playing ball here anymore.
They've got teams practicing.
- Right, yeah.
- I've been spending the
last couple of days with Jim
and he's quiet.
He's humble.
And then you get these pockets
of just like intensity.
- Oh, he's smart.
- Super smart.
- Smart.
- When we were going
through his garage
we found a lot of his
practice notes from the NBA.
And this dude cares
more about practice
than he does about the game.
- Oh, yeah.
Cleamon was the same.
He practiced hard,
he played hard.
I think that's what got
the respect of the guys
'cause you didn't settle down.
When Clem was on
your defense wide,
you had to be ready.
You had to be ready.
That's how he'd always been.
'Cause it seemed like
he always had a plan.
- We're finding notes on like,
you know, Pippen, Jordan.
I mean some of the
best players ever,
and he's writing notes
on how to talk to them.
Not necessarily
what the play is.
- I think early on,
he was always grooming
us how to be a coach.
That's what coaches used to do.
Clem was a general on the floor.
- He was the boss.
- He was general on the floor.
No question about it.
He knew everybody, where
it's going, everything.
So this is during the game.
Smart.
He just took care of business.
That's what he did.
- That's awesome.
Well, everything you're
saying adds up to the guy
we're talking about.
- Oh, yeah.
- It was really cool to
walk in the St John Arena
and see Jim's picture
up on the wall
with all these
accolades and awards.
This is a show about legacy
and rarely do I meet
a living legacy.
(upbeat music ends)
(slow music)
All right.
We are here a few days
later, very long days.
You all have moved so much.
I think packing is a lot
easier than unpacking,
but we came here to help
you clean out the garage
to kind of get that jumpstart.
And I'm happy to say
we achieved that.
- I realized early on
that we needed help.
The magnitude of what you
guys have done to help us,
all the work that you
and your crew has done
has been just remarkable.
So we're very appreciative.
- We appreciate you
guys letting us in here.
Let's not look over the fact
I got to hold 10
championship rings this week.
For me, that's really cool.
I like that I don't
see, you know...
Your whole life's
not about that.
You know, you were
gone, how many years?
It's decades, right?
- Yep.
- Two decades.
- You've been gone
20 years working
and you work those 20
years to retire together.
You just keep coming
up as the glue, right.
So I wrote a couple
of labels down
and I forgot to list here.
- Okay.
- I've got wife.
I've got mom.
I got videographer.
I've got cook, homeworker,
and of course, we got dancer.
- Yeah.
- [Matt] I love this picture.
- [Cheryl] Do you?
- [Matt] Fierce.
- [Cheryl] Yeah?
- You're going at it.
- Yeah, I haven't
seen that in a while.
- What are you thinking?
- Well, he's right there
on the sideline watching.
(laughing)
- I saw Cheryl,
my first night as assistant
coach for the Chicago Bulls.
I'm there for a job too.
And so she just my eye,
but I'm there to work
and she's doing her
job and that was it.
- [Matt] I love it.
- All right, you'd asked me
to find your
grandmother's quilt.
- Yes.
- We found a quilt, but
it's a well-used quilt.
- Yes, it is.
- It's homemade.
- Do you remember this quilt?
- I do.
This would be my
biological father's mother.
I think she stitched
every article of
clothing that she had.
She and her sister,
they would quilt
and they would cut
little patterns
and save little pieces
of fabrics from curtains
or, you know, just scraps
that they would find
and you know, just
create pieces of love.
- This was a simple
item, but I love it
because you grab it
and you can hug it
and you can think
of your family.
All right, the next item
you guys asked us to find
was the brooms.
- Look at you.
I explained to you a
little bit of the history
about what jumping
the broom means.
So when Jim and I
wed we were older.
Late bloomers that we are.
We were the only
two that stood up.
We didn't have a best
man or a maid of honor
or matron of honor.
So the two people that would
have been those surprised us
with the brooms.
- Oh, that's cool.
- So yes.
- So one represents...
- The gentleman that would
have been Jim's best man
and the other one
is from the woman
that would have been
my matron of honor.
Somewhere there's a picture
of us jumping in mid air.
- Yeah.
Not only did we find
the wedding brooms,
but we also found
the wedding picture
after a bunch of searching.
It was very well packed.
Almost hidden.
We didn't find it until a
few minutes ago honestly.
(all laughing)
- I believe it.
- I loved that your wedding
brooms were a part of your list.
Where will these
go in this house?
- Well, probably hang
them over the entries.
Yeah, because they're
there to bring good fortune
and good energy and
spirit into the home.
- I like it.
And at the end of
the day is a family.
- And that's a very
special picture.
- Yeah, that's my dad's
first visit to Disneyland.
That's one of my favorite
family pictures of us all.
- [Cheryl] It was a good day.
- It was a really good day.
- Well, let's go over
what we didn't find.
We didn't find a lot
of things, actually.
We didn't find everything
and that makes sense
because this family has
moved over 10 times.
Lots of times stuff
gets lost in a move.
Didn't find the dance shoes.
I found some of your plays.
I didn't find, I think,
full playbooks books,
but I did find some books
They had your notes in them
and I didn't find your pendant.
Don't mean they're
not out there.
- That's true.
- We did find something today
that we didn't expect to find.
- Know what this is?
- Do not.
- All right.
- I think I do.
- You know what this is?
- Yeah.
- This is basically
like a keepsake box
of your older sister.
- Yeah.
- What do you remember about it?
- This is like during
the era of the playhouse
and everything.
So we are going through
inspirational quotes
and things that we thought
would make us smile
and make us imagine and dream.
I don't know what
she put in it per se,
but I do remember seeing
the box always in her room.
- You've got quotes
from arguably one of
the best movies ever.
"Coming to America".
- We were young watching that.
- And Ralph Waldo Emerson.
I'll let you read one.
- "Happiness is a perfume
you cannot pour on others
without getting a few
drops on yourself."
- Your children are putting
positive in front of them,
setting goals and it's so cool
to see how your daughters
put that into their lives.
I mean, it's a
show about legacy.
What do you think
your legacy really is?
Is it rings?
- No, no.
- What is it?
- We have, you know, our quilt.
It represents love and security.
Okay, we have brooms
that represent good vibes
and you know, clean house.
- Well, we donated an enormous
amount of clothes today.
- We donated an
enormous amount, yes.
- People will be wearing those
suits tomorrow, all right.
And they're going to
get jobs interviews.
They're going to get
their life back on track.
- You know, we're so
fortunate and really blessed
that between Imani and Rose,
they're the next generation
and hopefully what
we pass on to them,
they'll be able to pass
on to their families.
- This was an item we did find.
You know what this is?
- Yes, I think so.
- This is the scrapbook
that you asked us to find.
It has been weathered.
You were not kidding.
This is an extensive book.
It is amazing that somebody
that was not family
did this for you.
For him, the thing
that he liked the most
was that scrapbook.
I think it was a personal
gift and it was something
that someone worked
really hard to make.
And you can really see
the emotion in Jim's eyes.
He was really just happy.
You have some amazing things up.
You've got unlimited
autographs of amazing athletes.
But to you, they're friends.
You got some game balls that
are absolutely incredible
that people have
only read about.
I mean, I was looking
at some game balls
and then found a Shaq Jersey.
It's a little big and it's
autographed, you know.
An autographed Shaq jersey.
All right, you're just
like, yeah, whatever.
- Yeah.
When you're like eight
and you walk up
and meet Pau Gasol
and you're like,
hi, you're tall.
That's all you get.
- I found a picture
of your sister,
or you, being held
by Phil Jackson.
- That was my sister.
I was like, what.
That's Phil Jackson.
- I mean we found
so many cool things.
I found this.
This is your...
We're tiny back here.
This is our last item, okay.
This was not on your list.
This was on my Legacy List.
- Okay.
I love this.
This is a Lakers.
- A cookout.
They were putting together
a cookbook or something.
- I think he's got to tell us.
- Oh, okay.
Just hold on.
- I collect very
random cookbooks.
- Do you really?
- I do.
- With my career I have
a few random collections.
I love flat pennies
and weird cookbooks.
And I actually had a
cookbook for the LA Lakers
that Jim and Cheryl were in.
- You have that...
You did not get that
out of my kitchen?
- No, this is mine.
(Cheryl laughs)
- [Cheryl] What are the odds?
- Swear to God.
This is mine that I
brought from home.
- Oh, yeah.
- And there and behold.
- There you are.
- You're in there too.
- [Cheryl] I forgot about that.
- There you are.
Y'all are in a random
cook book I've got.
- A random cook
book that you have.
(laughing)
- As silly as this is,
it wraps it up for me.
Yeah, you've had a crazy career
and you have
supported all of this.
Raised your children.
You guys somehow made it work,
but you're still just a family.
- And that's a pretty
representative picture of...
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- A lot of people
are going through
what y'all going
through right now.
Downsizing, but
more importantly,
someone's been on the
road for a long time
and now someone's coming home.
What kind of advice can
you give to families
that are going through it?
- The downsizing,
do it together.
I'd say that.
When that person comes
home for retiring,
that that's a good
activity to do together.
I think your team, they
have the best idea.
Ground rules.
Not just for downsizing,
but ground rules for there's
somebody in the house
all day long when you've
been the stay-at-home mom
and you know, this
has been your job.
And now all of a sudden
there's a colleague in
your kitchen all the time.
You know, ground rules
and you just establish
the ground rules.
And you know, for us, I think
what you said, we communicate.
- And you can take your time.
It took 20 years to
accumulate all this stuff.
And I could go
through it in a week.
That's not realistic, you know.
And not to borrow
from sports theme,
but y'all didn't
build championship
teams in one season.
It takes time and y'all are
actually doing a really good job
compared to a lot of my clients.
- We're grateful
that you helped us.
- But for the first time ever,
you don't have to worry
about packing back up.
You can finally unpack.
- [Female Voice]
Funding for Legacy List
is provided by Wheaton
Worldwide Moving.
Wheaton's number one
goal is to help you,
your loved ones and your
belongings get to your new home
quickly and safely.
You can find us at
wheatonworldwide.com.
Wheaton Worldwide Moving.
We move your life.
- [Female Voice]
FirstLight Home Care.
Committed to providing safe
and compassionate home services
for you and your family.
FirstLight believes personal
relationships and engagement
are as important as mobility,
bathing and personal hygiene.
Details at
firstlighthomecare.com.
- [Female Voice]
The Mavins Group.
A downsizing real estate sales
and move management company.
Committed to easing the
emotional and physical demands
of beginning a
new stage of life.
The Mavins Group.
So much more than a move.
- Insure Longterm
Care where we believe
that aging at home,
your friends and family
is ever more possible
for more people.
Learn more at insureltc.com.
- And by the Ruth Camp
Campbell foundation.
♪ L-O-V-E
♪ All I want
♪ And all I ever think
about is L-O-V-E ♪
♪ Please come here to me
♪ Hold me close and
don't let me go ♪
- Yeah, that's a Rose original.
- Yeah.
(both laughing)
- [Male Voice] Visit
mylegacylist.com
to learn more about the
tips, tools and professionals
to help make your own
big life move easier.
Learn more about this episode
or submit your story to
be featured on the show
at mylegacylist.com.
(upbeat music ends)
(outro theme music)
(outro theme music)