The segment introduces the Naismith Sportsmanship Tour’s four‑day stop at the Molti in Warrensburg, organized by Jerry Franklin and Central Athletics, featuring an exhibit of the original basketball rules and the Maud Naismith Award. John Naismith, grandson of Dr. James Naismith, explains the foundation’s mission to promote sportsmanship, respect, positive role modeling, dignity, and teamwork. He recounts discovering the long‑lost Maud Naismith Award, the family’s preservation of the original 1931 basketball constitution, and the decision to take the message on the road. Naismith critiques the commercialization of basketball, the exploitation of young talent, and the lack of educational focus, arguing for age‑based NBA rules and a return to core values. He emphasizes that every player is a role model and calls for a cultural shift back to good attitudes and sportsmanship.
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In addition to the Mules and Jennies basketball game Saturday night at the Molti, fans will also have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to discover some of the history surrounding this great game. The Naismith Sportsmanship Tour began its 4-day stop at the Molti on Wednesday night. The tour was brought to Warrensburg by Jerry Franklin of J.W. Franklin Company in conjunction with Central Athletics. The tour will be in town through Saturday's games with Emporia State, and included in the exhibit are the original rules of basketball valued at $10 million. John Naismith, the grandson of the inventor of basketball, Dr. James Naismith, is in town as well to spread his message of sportsmanship and integrity within the game. And tonight on our SportsPage Spotlight, we'll give you a sneak peek at the Naismith Sportsmanship Tour.
The purpose of the foundation is we're on a mission to spread sportsmanship, respect, positive role modeling, dignity. Teamwork within the game of basketball. You may get 400 or 500 people a day, you may get 200, you may get 50. I thought we needed to take our message on the road, which had never been done before. And so I put together what I call the Naismith Sportsmanship Tour, which is where we're at now. It's been successful beyond my dreams. I mean, we've been before almost a million people. And I actually planned to do it only 2 years. I'm going into my 3rd year, and I'm already committing into the 4th year. Because it's doing what I wanted to do, and that's spread— what we're trying to do is save a game from greedy, self-serving people. It's very simple. It's a family game. We gave it to the world not to be abused, to be used. Jerry Hughes, the athletic director, said, you know, we have a Naismith Trophy in our trophy case, and because I'm on the board of the Hall of Fame and because I run the foundation, family foundation, I couldn't visualize what award he had because they'd never received a Naismith Award. So I asked him, I said, what Naismith Award do you have? And he said the Maud Naismith Award, which was a shock to me because my grandmother died in 1936. My grandfather made a beautiful large award for sportsmanship in her name called the Maud Naismith Award, and we have pictures of him holding the award, but we thought it had— we never knew where it went. And in fact, it was presented to the school here, and it was in the trophy case. And we thought it disappeared in the '30s. So we immediately left lunch, they brought me over here, and I got goosebumps all over me still when I look at that award. Because here it's still alive and well, and it's right here in Warrensburg. So we say the Naismiths are returning to Warrensburg, which I didn't know. And that's a very, very strong story with me, the fact my grandfather was here, and here we are here doing the same thing some 60 years later. This is the document that he actually put on the bulletin board that morning at 11:30. It's called the Holy Grail of Basketball. It's also called the Constitution of Basketball. And this is a piece— these two pieces of paper have been in the family 112 years. And the name basketball, you can see at the top, he wrote on there and he signed at the bottom. Authenticated the rules in 1931 while he was at the University of Kansas. These were his prized possessions. As a basketball family, we had to ask ourselves when we started getting distressed with the lack of sportsmanship and respect and whatnot, should we do something? And my family met in 1994, first time ever, about the game of basketball. My brother, sister, and I are the owners. And we said, yeah, we can't— if we don't step up and say something, how can we anticipate other people will? It's our responsibility. We're the caretakers. So, uh, we've been out there about almost 7 years now, and we're very serious about it, and the movement's going very well. Grandfather gave this game to the world. I have thousands of people when I'm on tour like I am now come up and what you said kept me out of trouble, whatever, let me become an attorney, let me become a doctor. I got an education because of basketball. That's what it's about. Now it's become a vehicle not to go to school. It's become a feeding frenzy. If a kid's got talent, my God, they're sitting at the breakfast table feeding him Wheaties. You know, and so it's completely reversed, and the family is very much opposed to this. It should be a game that aids in education. Get your education. You can fall back on it. If this kid from Akron, Ohio gets a terminal injury and loses his career, they'll throw him away like a dishrag, and he won't be educated and have no way to make a living. Now maybe he already has money, but you see what I'm getting at. I've heard nobody be concerned about the boy. And this is what we're concerned about as a family, and that's the reason we're preaching sportsmanship. When I hear an athlete of any level say, "I don't want to be anybody's role model," it's a cop-out. You're a role model. How good are you going to be? Will you carry the baggage? Will you accept the fact you're a role model? Will you be a positive role model instead of a negative role model? When I'm talking to grade school kids, I say, "You know, kids, I'm so old, I remember when people had good attitudes. Anybody here hear about good attitudes?" 500 kids never heard about good attitude. I said, isn't that a shame? You used to come up and say, "How you doing today?" That was a good attitude. Now it's attitude. It's got to be bad. You know, we need to change these things. Values don't need to change. Basketball changes. People say, "Well, Nate Smith, you want everything to stay the same." Nothing stays the same. Sportsmanship, respect, dignity, positive role modeling, teamwork can stay the same and should. And we're not buying the other answers. It's that simple. The education, they should, in my opinion, not all students can go all the way through university, we understand that, but at least make the attempt if it's possible. And if not, polish the game, you know, get a minimum age in the NBA. People say that's taking away their right to work. No, no, basketball is a game, it's a sport, supposed to be. Now if it's a pure old business, let's admit that, but as long as it's a game and a sport, you can make age rules, and this is one of my crusades. Let's grow these kids up some more. But, uh, all they're trying to do is mine for— or again, it's all greed. They're trying to mine their abilities and they're forgetting the kids. And I see kids that have a lot of talent mentally who they want to be the next Michael Jordan. I'm going to tell you something, it's going to be a long time for another Michael Jordan. And the good thing about Michael Jordan, he's a good sportsman. But to get the combination athlete and sportsman is very hard
