Meet the Harvey senior creating fellowship through basketball
“If I can’t be a vehicle of change for the infrastructure of Harvey, I can be a vehicle of change for the seniors,” 2023 Humana Game Changer James Lewis said.
Lewis, who frequents the Harvey Public Library where his mother volunteers, played throughout his time at Thornwood High School. As he helped aging grandparents, Lewis had to stop playing basketball but still found time for a little three-on-three around the neighborhood.
James Lewis knows a thing a two about bouncing back.
At 35, the Harvey-bred basketball professional developed a hernia injury, and later on a bone spur. But his son inspired him to keep moving. “We started a workout program at five a.m. in the morning,” Lewis said. At 55, the Masters Basketball Association, the country’s top basketball league for those 40 and older, recruited him.
Now, he’s a member of its Hall of Fame. “Life is about moving. Even I have aches and pains,” Lewis chimed. He’s a familiar face at south suburban health clubs. He’s galvanizing other seniors to become more active.
“I call it fellowship” —building community through fitness, he said.
It’s a feat that’s catapulted Lewis to the national stage. This week, Lewis, 67, is competing in this year’s National Senior Games in Pittsburgh, July 7 through July 18, presented by Humana.
He’s a Humana Game Changer, a national recognition for seniors living an active lifestyle and inspiring others in the aging population. Out of 11,000 athletes competing this year, “just the mere fact that I was chosen to be a Humana Game Changer for 2023 was really humbling,” Lewis said.
When Lewis was asked to play the National qualifiers, it wasn’t too big a challenge for him, he he said. Playing five-on-five games traveling the country, he tried to “refocus to what I did in my younger years playing three-on-three,” he said.
Get out and walk. Find a partner. That’s a few tips he’s giving others. Getting up and active may very well take your mind off of life’s troubles.
And Harvey’s had its fair share of those.
That’s why Lewis enjoys representing the city on such a big level in Pittsburgh these next few days.
”It is really nice. It’s something positive that we need in our neighborhood. We’re trying rebuild a lot of things in Harvey,” he said. “It gives me another talking point for when I’m around in the Harvey area. […] ”No matter wherever I’ve gone [..] this is where home really is,” he added.
“If I can’t be a vehicle of change for the infrastructure of Harvey, I can be a vehicle of change for the seniors.”
We’re filling the void after the collapse of local newspapers decades ago. But we can’t do it without reader support.
Help us continue to publish stories like these
Author
Related Articles
HF alum curates ‘music in its authentic form’
Femi Adigun, a rapper known by his stage name Femdot, is curating a Hip-Hop and R&B music show at the Ramova Theatre in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood.
April library board meeting canceled without reaching a quorum
The board meeting’s April 9 agenda included approving March bills lists and a treasurer’s report.
Out of ‘shared concern for the community,’ Southland influencers expand political awareness
A storm of political conflicts, news desert crisis, and distrust of Chicago mainstream news media is fueling the growth of a new information ecosystem in the south suburbs.
