His path has never been conventional.
Clifford Ray got his first NBA coaching job in Dallas in 1987, but there were strings attached. The Mavericks were willing to give him his first break, largely because owner Don Carter considered him a member of the family. But the X's and O's came with a mop and bucket. Ray didn't care about anything but the opportunity.
He had grown up in South Carolina. His father, Clifford Sr., was a mason. His mother, Josephine Jeter, was a stay-at-home mother. He was shaped by an era when the water fountains still were segregated and guidance counselors told black children they'd only be taxing their families by going to college and that they'd be better off doing what everyone did in South Carolina: working in a textile mill. "But the thing is, a human being should have the opportunity to succeed or fail," the 61-year-old Ray said. He played ball at Oklahoma and won an NBA championship with Golden State. When he had the chance to continue doing what he lived for in that Mavericks job, he didn't let pride get in the way.
"It was a tough thing," he said. "But I took whatever opportunity was in front of me and tried to make the most of it. I had to go out every day and mop the floor at the practice facility and clean the gym and do whatever I had to do. I looked at it as an opportunity to teach, because that was my goal, to teach." However, Ray's teaching days in Boston came to an end; he found out last month the Celtics weren't bringing him back.
The Mavericks job was a building block, not a burden. The team led the league in rebounding with Ray working with James Donaldson, Sam Perkins, and Roy Tarpley. Ray carved out a niche as a mentor to big men. He landed jobs in New Jersey, Golden State, and Cleveland. He was in Orlando when Doc Rivers drew up his first play as Magic coach
"You've got to look at it as something that's going to either make you a better person or make you a humble person and a good person," Ray said about the Mavericks job. "That's how I was brought up. That's pretty much what I've had to do. I don't look at it as a bad thing."
In 2006, Rivers's second year with the Celtics, the team was loaded with young but unrefined talent, including Al Jefferson and Kendrick Perkins. Ray came on board to help mold the young big men. Two years later, he was on the bench when the Celtics won their first title in 22 years. "That's a rare year and a rare period in your life," Ray said. The Celtics' decision was difficult for Ray to digest, but he refused to dwell on it.
"It's just like any job," he said. "You come to an end. You're never going to stay someplace and coach forever, you know. So at some point or another there was going to come a point in time when I was no longer going to be a Celtic. No matter how it happened. When I went into basketball, I went into basketball to be a coach and a teacher." The names of the players he's helped mold stretches into the dozens.
He has worked Kendrick Perkins to the bone over the past seven seasons. Dwight Howard still talks about the work ethic Ray instilled in him. He coached Carlos Boozer and DeSagana Diop in Cleveland. He mentored Chris Webber and PJ Brown in New Jersey and Boston. Adonal Foyle, a player Ray tutored in Golden State, repeatedly thanked Ray during an emotional retirement announcement. Antawn Jamison still invites Ray to his North Carolina home. "He and his wife always say, 'I've got a pond you can go fishing,' " Ray said. "I know they mean it, and someday I probably will."
Players he never got a chance to work with show him the same respect. "I walked in the gym the other day and [Shaquille O'Neal] came in, and he called me, 'Uncle Cliffy,' " Ray said. "I've known Shaq forever and always wished that I could have gotten to him as a young guy." Brown became one of Ray's closest friends. "He coached me, he pushed me, he motivated me," Brown said. "And I would say, that's where he became more than just a coach. He was a father figure."
They kept in contact as their paths squiggled around the league. Brown played for Miami, Charlotte, and Chicago, never getting further than the conference finals. Brown played 10 games with the Bulls in the 2006-07 season, before deciding to step away from the game. Ray called him. "Hey, keep your spirits up," Ray told him. "Stay in shape. You just never know. The opportunity might come your way."
Brown ran into Ray Allen and Paul Pierce at the 2008 All-Star Game, and they gave him the hard sell on coming out of retirement. But knowing he had been out of the league for 10 months, what convinced Brown that Boston was the right situation was Ray's presence. "I felt like if I was going to come back, there was only one man that can get me mentally and physically ready and that was Cliff," said Brown.
Brown helped the Celtics win the title and then rode off. Ray, he said, was "a big part of that." He was surprised to hear Ray's time in Boston had run out. "I can honestly say that he's one of my dearest friends and he's a person that I truly look up to and respect and admire," Brown said. "It'll be a big loss for the NBA and the game of basketball losing Cliff. He's one of those unsung heroes."
Of all the experiences basketball's given him, Ray said that's what he appreciated most. "Players, if you made an impact on their life, they don't forget it," Ray said. "That's why you do what you do. You don't even really do it for money. If I coached for money it would be a joke. I've been really blessed. It's more to coaching than X's and O's. People don't always value what a person does. You've got to look at the big picture."
He's had breakfast with Alfred Hitchcock in Hawaii. He's walked with Marlon Brando on Brando's island. Jack Nicholson has sent him text messages. Whenever he's in Oakland, Al Davis insists they have dinner together. He's sailed from Fiji to Tahiti on an 85-foot catamaran. He saved a dolphin.
One time, he got a call in the middle of the night from a friend in the music business. He had a song he swore would be a hit and he wanted Ray to hear it before he recorded it. The friend was Marvin Gaye. The song was "Sexual Healing."
Ray doubts he'll land another job in the league, especially with the start of the season so close. He'll spend time with his girlfriend, Mary, and his 11-year-old son Everett. "There's nothing I can do besides go home," Ray said. But when he looks at what basketball's given him - from Golden State to Dallas to Boston - he has no regrets.
"I've had a really blessed life," Ray said. "Maybe it doesn't equate to millions and millions of dollars and maybe my lifestyle is a really simple lifestyle, but you know what, I don't have no complaints about it."
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