By Eric Reid

OUT OF THE BLUE?

It might seem that way, but it isn't so. There seems to be nothing random regarding Blue Edwards' success in the NBA.

Blue Edwards

The newest member of the Miami HEAT is living out his own childhood fantasies. He chartered his own improbable course and then made it happen. From a small town, to a small school, this late bloomer has defied the odds on his decade long NBA odyssey.

Small town dreams do come true. Just ask Blue.

He was the youngest of Willie and Edna Edwards' six children. His family lived in rural Walstonburg, North Carolina, a town of about 250 people. He remembers a family that lived nearby with lots of kids. When they moved away Blue's world was his two older brothers, his two sisters, his parents and his dreams.

Most people in the area raised cattle, pigs or chickens. Corn, tobacco and soybean are the products of the region and the means to survival for most. Blue's dad drove an 18-wheel truck, many times filled to the brim with a load of clucking fowl. His mom was a seamstress who made clothes for her living and for her family.

Today he says his hard-working parents taught him some valuable, life-long lessons. Back then, it just seemed like he was overloaded with chores. Now he knows his parents were just showing him the value of hard work and money.

"I learned to appreciate the things I had and to work hard to gain the things I wanted," says Blue Edwards.

Basketball Catches Blue's Attention

By the age of 10, he says, basketball was what he wanted. He was a big fan of the NBA and the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference). He remembers at the age of 12, saying for the first time, that he wanted to be an NBA player. He started playing basketball every day, emulating N.C. State's David Thompson and pros Larry Bird, Julius Erving and Magic Johnson.

"When you grow up in a small town, you have that small town mentality," he says. "You're watching people on television and you think they are so far away from you. You don't ever think that your child, or anyone from where you grew up or how you grew up could be in the same position as those people you see on TV."

But Blue was different, even as a kid.

"I'm like, hey they're just basketball players.They are good at basketball. I wondered, how did they get that good at basketball?"

He wanted answers so he went to the library and began looking at books about NBA players. He read about Bob Cousy, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain and others. He learned what they did. It became a blueprint that guided his dreams.

"My goal coming in was to play in the NBA for at least 10 years. After this season I will have accomplished that." -- Blue Edwards

His parents discouraged him from pursuing this dream. His father wanted him to just stick to his chores, get a job and learn how to support himself and someday a family of his own. They wanted him to be responsible, not a dreamer. Get a job, so you can buy a car, his Dad would say. Blue remembers thinking, "I don't want a car. I want basketball."

He was a junior at Greene Central High School in nearby Snow Hill, North Carolina and he still had not played organized basketball. Louis Godwin, the basketball coach there, approached Blue one day while he was walking to class.

"He told me, 'You could go to college and get a degree, maybe even play in the NBA' and then he was gone," says Blue. Finally, unable to find a job and please his father, his parents gave him permission to play ball. He's been playing ever since.

Hometown Boy Stays Local

A stellar finish at high school and two years at local Louisburg Junior College had the big schools on the prowl. But the small-town guy decided to stay local, winding up at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina just 20 miles away from where he grew up.

"I wanted to stay with my girlfriend, who is now my wife," Edwards explains. She was a basketball player as well, and both had decided to stay together no matter what. So they both landed at East Carolina.

In his senior campaign at ECU, it all came together. He averaged almost 27 points and 7 rebounds a game. He was the Colonial Athletic Conference player of the year and the sixth leading scorer in the nation. But more importantly, he had caught the eye of pro scouts - including those from the Utah Jazz, who called his name with the 21st selection of the first round of the 1989 NBA draft.

He spent three formative years in Utah playing for an excellent coach in Jerry Sloan and with a pair of future Hall-of-fame teammates in John Stockton and Karl Malone. His greatest lessons were learned after the Jazz traded him to Milwaukee.

"You tend to take the game for granted. You even tend to take winning for granted because we always won," he says. "When I left Utah I appreciated being there even more. I saw how tough playing was and how tough losing was."

He found out fast that basketball was a business with a rapid-fire series of whistle-stops - Milwaukee, Boston, Utah, and Vancouver - which selected him in the expansion draft three years ago.

"When I look back I am just thankful for the opportunity to continue playing," Edwards says, acceptingly, of his 10-year, five-team journey. "My goal coming in was to play in the NBA for at least 10 years. After this season I will have accomplished that."

His dad passed away following Blue's rookie season. His mom still lives nearby Snow Hill, North Carolina as do most of his brothers and sisters. He says his family is proud of what he has accomplished but happier that he is doing what he loves to do, taking care of his family and that he is still a humble person.

"My mother and I often talk and she is still overwhelmed that a kid from Snow Hill can make it to the NBA. Not a lot of kids make it out of there."

Blue's Winter "Heats" Up

When he broke his right hand in a December pickup game during the lockout he began to wonder again. Though he wanted to remain in Vancouver so he would not have to relocate his wife, Valerie and his two little twin girls, Whittney and Brittney, the feeling wasn't mutual. As a free agent, the HEAT had showed continued interest in him, and he finally headed south for the winter on February 14th.

He is reminded of his awkward beginnings now as he starts anew with the HEAT. Though already behind, he is catching up quickly.

"Everyone is focused on winning here," he says. "Coach Riley does a great job in preparing you to win. Our purpose here is singular. The thing here is, you win a game or a bunch of games and it's no big deal. We're supposed to. We have much bigger goals here. At Vancouver when we won I was so happy because it might have been awhile until we won again."

He joins Terry Porter and Clarence Weatherspoon as rock-solid, hard-working, veteran, newcomers in Miami. Once Edwards familiarizes himself with the way the HEAT play and gets into better basketball condition he knows he will contribute to winning. He is trying to get there fast but not hurry. When he reaches his peak he wants to stay there for March, April and the NBA Playoffs.

He has come full circle. Ten years later, still in the NBA and now back with a winner.

"I feel blessed," he says. "It's like poetic justice. In Utah, the first time around I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have. But now, each victory for me is great. It makes me appreciate all that I have gone through."

Eric Reid is the Miami HEAT's TV play-by-play announcer.

This article appeared in the March issue of the Miami HEAT Magazine.

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