Kenny Sailors-Naismith Hall of Fame.

WORKING DRAFT

ORIGINAL
House
JOINT RESOLUTION
.
HJ0002

ENROLLED JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 2,

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SIXTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING
2016 Budget Session

A JOINT RESOLUTION recognizing the contributions of Kenny Sailors to the game of basketball and encouraging his election to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

WHEREAS
,
Kenny Sailors was raised on a farm south of Hillsdale, Wyoming where he developed a jump shot playing against his taller brother Bud
;
and

WHEREAS, Kenny Sailors is widely attributed with inventing the jump shot
;
and

WHEREAS, Kenny Sailors
used his jump shot to
lead the University of Wyoming to the NCAA Basketball
T
ournament
C
hampionship
in 1943 where the
Wyoming
Cowboys defeated the Georgetown Hoyas
forty-six (
46
)
to
thirty-four (
34
);
and

WHEREAS,
a
f
ter winning the NCAA Championship,
the University of
Wyoming played
the National Invitational Tournament
Champion St. John
'
s
Redmen
in a Red Cross benefit game for the war effort.
In that game the
Wyoming
Cowboys defeated
St. John
'
s by a score of
fifty-two (52) to forty-seven (47)
, in Madison Square Garden
;
and

WHEREAS,
beyond his individual accomplishments in those tou
rnament
s and in his career, Kenny Sailors displayed his perfected jump shot, which became iconic, as well described in
"
The Origins of the Jump Shot
,
"
(University of Nebraska Press, 1999, pp. 205-206) by author John Christgau:

"
One shot by Kenny Sailors . . . remains historic . . . . He had stolen a pass and then raced down the left side of the floor . . . . At the top of the key, he cut to his right and then stopped suddenly and jumped. Courtside spectators in folding chairs watched as he seemed to rise up into the scoreboard . . . . Now, at the peak of his jump and hanging-in-the-air in Madison Square
Garden, he drew a bead on the basket . . . . Just before he dropped his left hand away to release the shot, a photographer
'
s flashbulb exploded silently. To the 18,056 fans who were watching, the flashbulb explosion seemed to freeze Kenny Sailors in the air, while beneath him men as floor-bound as statuary looked up in awe. Two weeks later Life Magazine ran a photo story of the game . . . . millions of young players saw that picture of Kenny
'
s jump shot in Life, and that . . . began a chain reaction in basketball . . . . Everywhere young players on basketbal
l courts began jumping to shoot
.
"

WHEREAS, legends of the game of basketball have acknowledged that the jump shot forever changed the game
and that Kenny Sailors
'
omission from the Naismith Memorial
Basketball H
all of
F
ame is inexplicable;
and

WHEREAS, Kenny Sailors
is on the list of nominees for induction in the Naismith Memorial
Basketball
Hall of Fame for 2016;
and

WHEREAS,
the legislature of the state of
W
yoming
is proud of its native son and his contributions to Wyoming and the game of basketball on a worldwide level.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING:

Section
1.

T
hat
Kenny Sailors
be
recognized as the player most
responsible for
the use of the modern
day jump shot used in the game of basketball at a
ll levels, throughout the world.

Section
2.

That the absence of Kenny Sailors from the Naismith Memorial
Basketball
Hall of Fame is an omission
that is without justification.

Section
3.

That Kenny Sailors should be
induct
ed in
to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
in 2016.

Section
4.

That the Secretary of State of Wyoming transmit copies of this resolution to
Kenny Sailors
' family
and to the
B
oard of
G
overnors
of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

(END)

Speaker of the House

President of the Senate

Governor

TIME APPROVED: _________

DATE APPROVED: _________

I hereby certify that this act originated in the House.

Chief Clerk

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