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God calling his shots now By J. BRADY McCOLLOUGH When Michael Watson bumps into a friend from his old life, the conversation tends to go something like this. Friend: “So what are you doing back?” Watson: “I retired from basketball and came home.” Friend: “OK, so you retired from basketball … WAIT, WHAT?! YOU RETIRED FROM BASKETBALL?! WHY?” Watson: “I’m going to be a minister.” Friend: “REALLY … really?” Then, an awkward silence usually follows. Nobody knows what to make of Watson’s abrupt retirement from pro basketball at the age of 26. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense: The guy who wouldn’t stop shooting at Central High School and then at UMKC decided to put the ball away for good? No way. Doesn’t seem possible. See, Watson wasn’t just a normal baller. He was a nasty competitor, the guy who wanted to guard Kareem Rush growing up. Watson would do anything to beat you, anything to catch fire. But, spend some time with Watson, and you’ll see that he is still very much on fire. Watson listened to a voice in his soul, and it told him to come back to Kansas City. He was needed here, back in the heart of the inner city where he came from. Sure enough, there he was on Wednesday, coaching the Northeast High School JV basketball team against Rockhurst. The Vikings trailed big at the half, and Watson lit into his team in the locker room. “There’s no coming back against these guys!” Watson says. “I don’t think you can do it! I think it’s a loss!” It was pure fire and brimstone. The JV Vikings have learned that if there’s one thing their new coach can do, it’s preach. Now, with the season over, Watson’s focus is fully on the gospel. And, to think, he could have been making $200,000 playing basketball overseas this year. “It’s a tough one to swallow,” says Antonio Frazier, Watson’s cousin and close friend. “I think the biggest shocker was not the money but that he was walking away from basketball. To see someone put that much time and energy into something and then walk away in one day, it’s complete disbelief.” ••• On that Wednesday evening in September, Michael Watson was going through intense prayer time in his lavish apartment on the beach in Istanbul, Turkey. Two weeks before, he had just signed the most lucrative contract of his short career, which had sent him to Poland, France, Italy and Puerto Rico. He’d chased his dreams all over the globe, and it had all come together quite nicely. But that night, Watson claims he heard the voice of God. The voice asked Michael to give it all up right then and serve him. Watson began to get emotional. He started crying. Didn’t want to hear it. Not now. “Are you really asking me to walk away from something I love to do?” Watson asked the voice that night. The voice responded, “Yes, if you really want to follow me, if you love me and you want to do my will for your life, then walk away.” “I heard it so clearly,” Watson says. “I never would have told myself to do it. So I knew it was God.” There it was, all laid out in front of Watson. He would finally have to choose between the two lives he’d been living, the one where he drove luxury cars, dated fine women and partied with his teammates and the one where he was a righteous man of God. Watson grew up in the church and was “saved” by the time he was 18. While in college, he developed a relationship with Pastor John L. Brooks at Macedonia Baptist Church. But Watson always grappled with the temptations afforded a basketball star. “I remember having conversations with him when he was overseas,” Frazier says, “and I’d ask him what he was doing, and he’d say, ‘I’m reading my Bible.’ You may call him a month later and it’d be, “Yeah, I’m out and about with the team.’ It’s been consistently bouncing back and forth.” But that night, Watson listened to the voice. And the next day, when he called his general manager and got out of his contract, he couldn’t believe what he was doing. On Friday, he boarded a plane headed for Kansas City. “When God steps in,” Watson says, “you obey and just go. It was my first time ever doing it. That night, it was just something divine.” ••• Watson’s return to Kansas City has been met with skepticism, even from family and friends. Sure, they were glad to see him, but the Michael Watson they knew never would have given up basketball. “Everybody is looking at him through a magnifying glass,” says Therssa Watson, Michael’s mother. “He still has friends who go out and do certain things. I think they’re trying to see if he’s sincere. That’s a big change for them, a basketball star to a minister. It’s unheard of for them.” The new expectations don’t bother Watson. Growing up without a father in his life, he’s always had to rely on his own instincts. This decision is no different. Watson avoids the temptations by spending as much time as he can with Pastor Brooks. He attends Bible study on Wednesday nights, sings in the choir and is now enrolled in classes at Carver Bible College. Sometime soon, he expects to start seminary. But for now, Watson is back in Kansas City to affect change. He started by getting the JV coaching job at Northeast and is also helping out at an elementary school in Grandview during the day. And he’s helping to start an after-school sports program for inner-city youth. Last week was a big one for Watson’s faith walk. On Sunday, he preached at a service for the first time. And on Thursday, he decided that he would not play basketball in Puerto Rico this summer. The decision had been hanging over his head for months, and it was a big relief. “I’ll be here,” Watson says. “The struggle is between God’s will and my will, and for so long, it’s been about my will. It doesn’t mean it’s not hard, but am I going back? No. I’m not going back.”
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J. Brady McCollough - jbrady@coveringsports.com (email) - 816-868-2621 (cell) |
