You meet a lot of people in this business in the course of 42 years. Meanwhile, I try to be judicious in the use of the words "always" and "never."

But I am safe with the following statement: In all that time, I have never met a nicer person that Phil Jasner. There are perhaps one or two others at that level, but none who exceed the standard set for warmth, courtesy, decency, and just plain good cheer by Phil Jasner, who died on Friday, a cancer victim at age 68.

Phil covered the 76ers for the Philadelphia Daily News from 1981 until he was no longer able to work, and he will be missed by the entire NBA community. He was a dogged reporter, an excellent writer, and an extraordinary companion. He was given the Curt Gowdy Award by the Naismith Hall of Fame a few years back, but he had been a charter member of the Good
Guys Hall of Fame the day he started on the beat.

Being nice doesn't have to mean being soft journalistically, and Phil was far from that. He knew right from wrong and good from great, and he was able to criticize when he had to. But he was able to do it so that the person chastised was struck with a velvet hammer, not torn apart with a buzz saw. Neither his readers nor his editors were ever cheated by Phil Jasner.

My condolences to his son, Andy, a fine journalist in his own right, and to all members of the Jasner family.