BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana community, and world of basketball as a whole, lost a titan on Thursday morning.
George McGinnis, who was quantifiable as nothing less than a legend in the game of basketball and throughout the Hoosier state, passed away in the early hours of Thursday after complications surrounding a cardiac arrest last week. The Indiana Pacers organization first released the news.
McGinnis, sometimes known as "Big Mac," "Big George" or "McGinnis the Magnificent," didn't earn those nicknames by accident. In reality, they're a reflection of who he was as a basketball player and a person, both on and off the floor. By all viable accounts, to know George was to love George, because that's just the type of person he was.
"I've known him for almost 50 years," said Indiana basketball head coach Mike Woodson on Friday morning. "He impacted my life from a young man growing up in Indianapolis as a basketball player, gave me an opportunity to play at an early age against him when he was a Pacer in the ABA days. It was just special for me."
Woodson, like so many others who spent time in the landscape of basketball throughout the 20th century, idolized McGinnis. In all, Woodson and McGinnis faced off eight times at the professional level according to Basketball Reference.
"I loved (him)," Woodson said in a statement released the morning of his passing. "He meant so much not only to IU and the state of Indiana, but to the entire basketball world."
He was 6-foot-8, every bit of 235 pounds. A giant on the floor, he had the achievement-filled resume to overshadow his imposing figure. When searching for the likeness of a true power forward in the game of basketball, McGinnis is a spitting image. Smooth, terrific and unstoppable in all his efforts, what George wanted on the floor quickly became his.
Success followed at every step.
State champion. All-out performer in the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star game, the owner of the most ridiculous statline to ever be produced in such a contest – 53 points, 30 rebounds. An ABA all-timer and champion. An NBA All-Star. A Naismith and IU Athletics Hall of Famer.
McGinnis had every reason to be the type of unavailable, reserved star that his talent afforded him. But George didn't take that path, not with anyone. That includes Woodson.
"We stayed in contact all these years," Woodson said. "I played against him once I was fortunate enough to play in the NBA. His friendship held true all these years."
McGinnis visited Woodson during an Indiana practice last season. Like many others of Woodson's close friends, he was not only proud of the Hoosier head coach to be in the position, but that there was a consistent emphasis on bridging the gape between generations and welcoming them back to practices.
In part, that's why a loss of this magnitude carries the emotion it does for those, like Woodson, who knew McGinnis. If not starstruck by his presence, he'd greet with smiles, stranger or not. He was attainable. "Big Mac" was a representation of what Indiana always has wanted to portray – a hospitable, warm, welcoming personality to contrast his outlandish and superhero-like strength and ability – and he was a damn good one. McGinnis' type doesn't come around much anymore.
"It's a tremendous loss," Woodson continued. "Anytime you lose somebody like that, I mean, he was bigger than life, man. Just a beautiful person. Forget all the accolades. Hell, he was a better person than all the accolades that he received over the years. I mean, he was just special. So he's going to be missed."
A celebration of McGinnis' life is planned to take place in Gainbridge Fieldhouse after the first of the year, according to the Pacers. Details are yet to be announced.
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