Photo courtesy Detroit Pistons
From Glory Days with Former Detroit Piston Buddha Edwards
Many people know James “Buddha” Edwards from his 19 seasons in the NBA and three Championships, but not everyone may not know his career was almost over before it started. As a freshman at Roosevelt High School in the Seattle area, Buddha was the tallest kid in his class but was viewed as too goofy and not coordinated enough to make the high school basketball team, and he was cut. With an attitude of never giving up, Edwards tried out one year later and made the team as a sophomore. By his senior year, he led Roosevelt High to a Washington state championship and moved on to the University of Washington Huskies.
Even at the collegiate level he got off to a rough start. As a college freshman, Buddha and his team went up against UCLA and their star, future basketball great Bill Walton. Walton would lead the Bruins to a 52 point win on the Huskies home court. The NBA also proved to be a challenge for Edwards. After playing just one season with the Los Angeles Lakers, and being mentored by the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he moved on to the Indiana Pacers for four years and from there to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
In his first year with the Cavs, they had the worst record in the NBA with only 15 wins. Thankfully, things would only go up from there. He only played in Cleveland for one other season but while he was there he forged relationships with the head coach, Chuck Daly, and teammate Bill Laimbeer. This relationship would benefit him six years later as he was traded from his current team, the Phoenix Suns, to the Detroit Pistons, where Daly now coached and Laimbeer now played. Finally after 12 years in the league, he was on a winning team. While in Detroit, he was given his nickname of Buddha because of his Fu Manchu mustache and the way his eyes looked. The very next year, the Pistons, then known as the Bad Boys, won their franchise’s first championship, something Buddha, as well as the team, worked his whole life for.
As most readers already know, the Pistons would win their back-to-back championship the next season. Buddha says that the second championship was definitely more for the fans and the city, since they had already been on top the year before. He only played one other season in Detroit before bouncing around to the LA Lakers and Clippers, then playing his 18th career season for the Portland Trailblazers.
Buddha began to wonder if this was the end because by training camp, the phone was not ringing. Finally Jerry Krause, the general manager for his former rival, the Chicago Bulls, offered him a spot on his team where he would reunite with former Bad Boy Dennis Rodman. Despite now being a Bull, he could not shed his reputation as a Piston and still took heat from stars like Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Pippen would still talk about what thugs the Bad Boys were and how they ruined the game. In Chicago, Edwards became more of a role player and did not get a lot of court time but was an integral part of the Bulls team that set a NBA record 72-10 record which stood until two years ago when the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors broke that record.
Buddha had hoped to play a 20th year but the Bulls were clearly pushing him in a different direction, offering him a radio job. Instead, he went back to his native Seattle and worked with kids learning basketball through the Seattle Sonics, which helped him stay involved in the game and that helped his transition out of sports. Unlike most athletes, he enjoyed having time at home instead of always being on the road. He had prepared himself financially for his retirement, which helped as well.
His return to the Motor City came when the Sonics packed up and left for Oklahoma City in 2008. Many people in Seattle did not understand why he wanted to go to Detroit, 2008 being one of the toughest years economically for the area, but Buddha viewed it as a new chance and a new opportunity now that Seattle no longer had a NBA team. Tom Wilson offered him a job with the Pistons, where he did some public relations work until Wilson left to work for the Detroit Red Wings. Although he still did some PR work for the Pistons, he also picked up a job through former teammate Vinnie Johnson and his J&M Transport Company.
Despite working in sales, people still viewed him as one of the Bad Boys and loved talking about those days and taking pictures with Buddha. His recognition in the area has not changed since the championship era, as people still call him Buddha even without the mustache, though former teammate Rick Mahorn would like to see him regrow it. Edwards would then go on to follow Vinnie to his new company, Piston Automotive, which does modular assembly for Ford, Fiat Chrysler and Toyota.
When it comes to transitions in life, Buddha believes that you have to stay the course, plan for it and stay positive in something you like. He also emphasizes to never give up, just like he never gave up after being cut from the basketball team in the 9th grade, and good things will happen.
You can catch Buddha Edwards’ full TV interview on From Glory Days this Sunday, February 18th on TV20 Detroit at 6:00 a.m. Set your alarms or DVRs to hear Buddha’s story directly from this three-time NBA Champion himself.
Check out other blog posts on the From Glory Days page.
Michael Holzman is a graduate of the University of Michigan-Dearborn with honors, with a BA in Communications. He also has a communications and broadcasting degree from Specs Howard School of Media Arts. A native of the Detroit area, Michael is now an associate producer for the TV show, “From Glory Days” and also works for Yellow Flag Productions, primarily reporting and gathering video for their popular show, “State Champs Sports Network.”