Tales of Michael Jordan, Patty Gasso & Bruce Lee at Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame induction

Brent Price learned how to play basketball from his dad, grew up playing it with his his two older brothers, then went on to play college ball at South Carolina and OU before spending a decade in the NBA.

That gives him lots of options from which to pick favorite memories.

But Monday night during his induction into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, Price revealed his greatest memory came the night he scored 30 points against Michael Jordan and the mighty Chicago Bulls.

Still …

“I just want to clarify a few things,” Price told the crowd at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum with a sly smile.

Price recalled the details of the day clearly. It was Martin Luther King Day, and Washington and Chicago were playing a rare afternoon game. Price was in his fourth season with the then-Bullets.

“I showed up to the arena very relaxed because I was gonna get back-up minutes,” Price recalled. “Just get my normal back-up minutes.

“When I got to the arena, I quickly found out that our starting point guard was injured and that I would be starting and they were playing Michael Jordan at the point. So in essence, I was gonna go head-to-head against Michael Jordan.”

Price added a footnote.

“And by the way, that injured player was my brother Mark,” Price said. “We had traded for him earlier in the year. Mark didn’t want to play the Bulls so he laid down on me.”

That Chicago team was no joke. It not only had Jordan but also Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and Steve Kerr.

“Pretty good team,” Price deadpanned. “Only won 72 out of 82 games in the regular season that year on their way to another championship.”

But Price figured he had a choice that day against Jordan and the Bulls: look like a fool or rise to the challenge.

He ended up hitting all six shots he took from behind the 3-point line. He was perfect from the free-throw line, too. On a night he missed just three shots from the floor, Price scored his career high in the NBA.

Price admitted he was proud of that.

“But I’m most proud of what’s not talked about because I could score on every level,” he said. “I found ways to put the ball in the basked, but the question mark for me going to the NBA was, could I guard anybody? Could I stop anybody?

“The thing I’m proud about that game is that I helped hold Michael Jordan to 46 points.”

Rim shot.

Seriously, though, the hall of fame’s induction night was full of gems. Here are a few more.

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What did OSU coach Sandy Fischer think of Patty Gasso before OU hired her?

Sandy Fischer was worried about Patty Gasso before OU even hired her.

Fischer was Oklahoma State’s first softball coach, and she spent 23 seasons in Stillwater, winning 900 games and advancing to AIAW nationals or the Women’s College World Series nine times.

But in 1994, she received a call from Marita Hynes, then the senior women’s administrator in the OU athletic department. She wanted to know if Fischer knew anything about Gasso.

“We’d been successful, so I guess my opinion counted for something,” Fischer said.

She admitted to Hynes, though, that she had never even heard of Gasso, then a junior college coach in Southern California.

“This side of my brain is going, ‘Oh, my God, that’s awesome! They’re gonna hire a junior college coach,’” Fischer recalled. “And this side of my brain’s like, ‘Oh, she has all those recruiting contacts. That’s a bad deal!’”

Neither Fischer nor anyone else could’ve guessed what Gasso would do at OU, building the Sooners into a dynasty. But Fischer praised not only the Sooners but also softball as a whole in Oklahoma, mentioning the WCWS, USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium and the success of many of the small-college programs.

“The sport in the state of Oklahoma is amazing,” she said.

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How did Lawton High become a football powerhouse in the 1980s?

James Trapp was a Super Bowl champion with the Baltimore Ravens and an Olympic alternate on the U.S. track and field team.

But he considers his high school days in Lawton to be among his career highlights.

“Probably the best era of high school football in Oklahoma,” he said.

At the very least, Trapp was part of perhaps the best team in state history. Lawton High’s 1987 team went 14-0 with at least five players who went on to professional sports careers, including Pro Football Hall of Famer Will Shields.

How did that team come together?

“Transfer papers,” Trapp said with a laugh.

Fort Sill brought lots of the players’ families to Lawton, including Trapp’s. His mom was assigned to Fort Sill before his freshman year of high school, and Trapp says he was supposed to go to Lawton Eisenhower. He remembers that being the case for several of his eventual teammates at Lawton High.

Why did Trapp end up at Lawton?

“Found a way to get me a car,” he said with a smile.

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An inspiration, a world traveler and a tough guy

● Seymour Williams might be the greatest high school coach who very few people know anything about. He started coaching football, basketball and track at Tulsa Booker T. Washington in 1920, and his teams won 17 state titles in football, finishing undefeated 14 times; 19 state titles in basketball; and six national titles in track. Williams retired before desegregation allowed Booker T. to join the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association, but to many in Tulsa, he was a legend. “One of my idols growing up was Seymour Williams,” said Lamar Berks, a Booker T. alum who didn’t play for Williams but knew about his success and accepted the posthumous hall of fame induction on Williams’ behalf. “He was a big inspiration in my life.”

● Chris Lincoln became known around the state for hosting several coaches’ shows, including Barry Switzer’s during OU’s heydays in the 1970s. But Lincoln became known to many around the world doing broadcasts of horse races, work that took him to six continents and more than 20 countries. “We had 8.6 million miles of travel just on American Airlines,” he said. “People always ask (wife) Becky and me, ‘You can go anywhere in the world first class. Where do you want to go?’ We always answer the same way: ‘Home.’”

● Dale Cook built his career in mixed martial arts, fighting for 22 years when the sport wasn’t mainstream like it is today. He says people thought of him as “this crazy white boy from North Tulsa who thinks he’s Bruce Lee.” Cook, now a fight promoter, is the ultimate tough guy, but Monday as he spent time on the phone talking to friends and supporters, he admits he wasn’t steely. “I’ve been crying all day,” he said. “It’s all the good crying when you’ve been thanking people that helped you along the way.”

Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at 405-475-4125 or jcarlson@oklahoman.com. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok or on Threads at jennicarlson_ok, and support her work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Brent Price remembers the night he scored NBA career high against MJ