Norm Van Lier dead at 61

I caught him on one of the Chicago sports radio stations the day after he wasn't invited to be a part of the Johnny 'Red' Kerr halftime ceremony. He was an angry man that day.

 

Seemed like a cool dude. RIP.

 

And now comes word that Kerr died Thursday (apologies if it's a d_b). What a shit day to be a Bulls fan.

 

Just saw that. Wow.

 

Holy crap. RIP to Red too.

 

Stunned, again. That is too bizarre. This has been one long sad day.

 

Oh my god. I didn't know about Red Kerr until now. I was bowling for a charity fundraiser and I'm watching Comcast Chicago.

This is a bad day for Bulls fans. And, not to add wood to the fire, but shame on the Bulls for not inviting Norm. Both legends die on the same day with that unfortunate incident hanging over them and the team.

 

OK, I think that's the thing I read about Norm's standing with the organization.

 

In your AP stories he played for the Midland Leopards not the Midland Chemics.

sigh...

EDIT - It looks like the Trib Review was the only one that screwed that up.

 

Norm Van Lier played in the first NBA game I ever attended -- in 1978, at Chicago Stadium, John Havelick's last game in Chicago. RIP Norm.

 

Van Lier and Jerry Sloan were the nastiest backcourt of the early 70s. You did not come out of a game against them without multiple bruises.

Kerr was one of the great big men of the earlier NBA and a great guy.

RIP to two of the NBA's finest.

 

The Chicago Reader re-posted a 1994 feature Ben Joravsky did on him. Great stuff in here, including some bashing of Jerry Sloan, the coach, not the player.

http://www.chicagoreader.com/norm_van_lier/