Short, who lives near Houston, was inducted into Hattiesburg Hall Of Fame’s inaugural class. It was a great slam dunk in the first class. Short led Hattiesburg High High to a 1974 state championship and went on to be Jackson State’s most prolific scorer and first round NBA draft pick. He scored almost 15,000 points over 12 years with “The League” and even scored 59 points in one NBA game. He was known for his beautiful, high-arching jump shots that he launched with flawless form. Purvis is often remembered in Hattiesburg as Eugene Short’s little brother. Eugene Short, who passed away two years ago after a long battle with diabetes, was the basketball star who arrived first and shined the most while the brothers were in Hattiesburg. It is an interesting story, and much of it has not been told. We start where it all began: on Carpenter Street, just a few blocks away from downtown Hattiesburg, in a small, humble house where Eugene, Purvis, and Eva were raised. Their father was a plumber and their mother was a cook at Eureka School. This is where all the Short children attended elementary school. Purvis claims that Eugene and he were very close as children. “He was my big sister. . . He was always someone I looked up to. Purvis adds, “How could he not be my idol?” “Eugene excelled at all he attempted: basketball, football and baseball. In the 10th grade, he was named Rowan’s quarterback. He could throw it. He was so good at basketball. Eugene Short was a great example of how to bring together the black and white sides of Hattiesburg. Many Hattiesburg residents saw black and white playing and working together when he moved to Hattiesburg High, previously all-white Rowan. A group of young white people who had never known a black friend suddenly found a black hero and had black friends. Eugene Short was reserved and quiet off the floor. He was reserved and rarely displayed emotion. He was always polite. Eugene was the star of the show on the floor. Jud Vance, who was a guard for the 1971-72 team and now lives in Tupelo, said that Eugene was so talented. He was our point man on the full-court press, and he had unbelievably long arms. He was a master of the full-court press and I cannot count how many times he stole or forced bad passes. He could jump. Eugene Short was 6′ 6” tall. Because of his long arms and incredible leaping ability, he played 6-9 or 6.10. Oh my, he was a great basketball shooter. Tim Floyd, a Hattiesburg native, is a veteran college and NBA basketball coach who has spent a lifetime recruiting high-school players to schools like UTEP and Idaho. He claims he’s never seen a better high-school player than Eugene Short. Floyd states, “If I have one game to win and only one player to win it,” Eugene Short is the best. Purvis Short, two years ahead of Eugene, was a completely different story. Purvis Short, who was not selected for his seventh-grade team, did not even play in the eighth grade. He came off the bench in ninth grade and didn’t even make it to the Hattiesburg High A team in the 10th. It is hard to imagine how embarrassing it was for Eugene Short’s brother. Purvis states, “I wasn’t good enough.” It’s so simple. Eugene’s jump shot was almost effortless. Purvis’s two-handed jump from behind his head, short and awkward, was just as inaccurate as it was embarrassing. Johnny Hurtt was the Hattiesburg High basketball coach at the time. Purvis Short says, “Coach Hurtt made it possible for me to be a good basketball player.” He showed me how to shoot. He taught me how to shoot, the basics, where to put your hands on the ball and finger placement. His lessons were invaluable. Purvis started out shooting a line-drive. There was not much arc. Hurtt brought a broom out to practice and used it as a guard for Purvis. Purvis says, “He made me shoot over that broom.” “That’s how the high arc of mine shot was born. Coach Hurtt believed that a higher shot was more likely to go in the basket because it was easier. It was also easier to block. I became more hungry as I improved and Coach Hurtt was always there. He advised me that I shouldn’t waste any time working on my game. I can say that I did not. I didn’t waste a single day. Coach Hurtt made us a team.” Purvis’s hard work ethic would be a great asset. He led the Hattiesburg Tigers team to another state championship in his senior year. Then he joined Eugene at Jackson State, where they shared one memorable season: Eugene’s junior and Purvis’s first season. Eugene averaged 26 points per match, Purvis 15, a game. JSU won the 1975 SWAC Championship with a record of 25-4. After his junior season, Eugene Short became a professional basketball player. He was named SWAC Player of Year for the second consecutive year and was selected by the New York Knicks as the ninth pick in the first round. Eugene’s NBA experience was short and disappointing. Eugene played just 34 games in two seasons with the Knicks as well as the Seattle Supersonics. He scored a modest total of 84 NBA point. Compare this to the 14,647 points he scored with his younger brother, who was always in his shadow. What’s the story? Now it’s all speculation. There were clearly other issues than basketball. Eugene Short was clearly not prepared for the physical and mental demands of the NBA’s 82-game per-season schedule. After playing 27 games with the Knicks, he was traded to Seattle. He then played seven games for Sonics. Tim Floyd, a former high school teammate of Short, was always puzzled by the brief NBA career of the greatest high school player he ever witnessed. Floyd met Bill Russell, the NBA Hall of Famer, several years ago. Russell was Short’s coach during his brief Sonics tenure. Floyd asked Russell about Eugene Short. Floyd asked Russell about Eugene Short. He said Eugene was suffering from severe depression, and that there were times when Eugene couldn’t get out of his hotel room. Floyd stated that they didn’t know what else to do back then. It is important to remember that Russell’s isn’t a medical evaluation. Eugene Short was not able to get a medical evaluation at that point in his life. There wasn’t even a psychological evaluation. Purvis says Eugene returned to Jackson after being let go, and that he was still at Jackson State. I remember trying to explain to him that there were other teams out, so he could join another team or travel overseas. He didn’t seem to be interested. He said, “Man, I’m done.” Eugene did not play again while his younger brother was the fifth overall draft pick and had a long and successful career. This is speculation on the writer’s side: Eugene Short had it all. He was so natural, talented, and fluid that he never experienced failure. He was not at all prepared for it. Purvis Short had worked hard for everything. He was a starting player on his high school basketball team. Purvis’s past experience taught him to persevere even when things weren’t working out. Eugene was able to share this experience. Purvis states that Eugene “just sort of withdrew” from all things. I tried to help him, as did many others, but he became more isolated. Purvis states that most people don’t know what professional athletes go through when they leave the sport. It affects people in different ways. It’s something you have done all your life. It’s your identity, what you do, and suddenly, you’re told that you can’t. It can feel like losing a friend, or even death. As with his diabetes and depression, Eugene’s alcoholism was an illness. Purvis Short was a 13-year veteran of the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets, as well as the New Jersey Nets. He was a great pro and was highly respected by his coaches and peers. His last four seasons in the league, he was vice-president for the players’ union. Purvis enjoyed a few drinks with his teammates after each game. He says he started to drink more after he retired. Purvis Short woke up one morning in 1993 and drove himself to a treatment facility. He has never had a drink in the past 35 years. He did everything he could to help his brother financially and emotionally. Eugene resisted. The NBA Players Union was working on a program that would help players cope with the many problems inherent in the NBA lifestyle. Charles Grantham, the director, asked Purvis Short to join what would become the Department of Player Programs. It was intended to provide advice for NBA players in four areas: drug and alcohol, career development, financial management, and health. Purvis states, “When Charlie asked me whether I was interested in the job, I replied, ‘Man. Yes,’.” “Because my experience with Eugene, and the things that had occurred to me, I felt compelled to help in any way possible. Sincerely, I believed that God was leading me in this direction. Purvis Short has made it his life’s work. He is now the head of the department. Purvis Short states that the department has helped many young players with a variety of issues. “If someone is having an issue, we ensure they get expert assistance.” He says he wonders often if there was such a program in the ’75 and ’76 years when his brother was still a rookie. Purvis Short states, “I’ve dedicated all my life to this.” “This is my life’s work, and it’s because Eugene and everything he has gone through. “I loved my brother.”