|
 It has been truly miraculous what John
Lucas has done with his life. He has gone
from alcohol and drug dependency to
arguable basketball's most recognized
counselor and coach. His largest
contribution to the game extends far
beyond his abilities as a floor general,
assists, points and win-loss records. He
is now in the business of saving lives,
literally. While in his own recovery there
was a strong clinical component but
nothing forma for physical conditioning.
Lucas began seeing exercise and
conditioning as medicine. During his
treatment Lucas developed and proposed a
program based on exercise and treatment.
After his own treatment Lucas really got
to work developing this concept of fitness
as a component of treatment and getting
hospital-based treatment centers to buy
into it. The aftercare and counseling
program that John Lucas helped to develop
became the model used by the NBA to help
recovering players maintain sobriety when
attempting to return to the NBA.
Since 1986 he has operated the
Houston-based John H. Lucas Enterprises, a
substance abuse recovery program for
athletes that includes two treatment
centers, a physical fitness program, and
an after-care program that provides
counselors in cities with NBA and NFL
teams. The program specializes in drug and
alcohol education, treatment and
rehabilitation .
The challenge for returning players who
are fighting their addiction(s) is to
maintain sobriety. Lucas helps to prepare
players to stay sober when going back into
the bad environments and lifestyles that
helped to contribute to their problems in
the first place. A large part of the
solution comes when players learn that, as
Lucas frequently states, that "basketball
is what you do, it is not who you are."
Free time, bad environments and bad
influences only hold sway on you if you
have no life outside of the game. Athletes
in recovery need to attend Twelve Step
meetings, visit with counselors about
problems and emotions, and continue to
keep their personal life in order.
Sobriety, and maintaining that sobriety,
can be the greatest gift that a recovering
athlete can attain. When they see that no
problem or situation that they may face in
this life will ever be reason to go back
to that former negative lifestyle, that's
when they are really back on track. The
gift is the sobriety, the ability to enjoy
life to its fullest, to enjoy being who
you are and waking up to face the next
day. Helping people to recover their lives
has become Coach Lucas' passion.
"As much as I love to help people recover
from addiction, I get even more joy from
working with kids to help prevent them
from getting on this road in the first
place." With that in mind Lucas came up
with the idea for an organization called
STAND, Students Taking Action Not Drugs.
STAND was first a crisis center that later
expanded services that included a hot line
for teens that offered crisis and
emergency counseling as well as peer
support groups. That work in prevention
led to programs that were put in place
when the NBA and the NBA Players
Association began to deal with drug
issues. John Lucas has since been involved
in helping the league and the Players
Association develop these programs.
Coach Lucas has thrown his entire heart
into his work, or better yet, his life's
work. "I wanted to be there for others. I
was always an assist guy in basketball,
but now I give people assists in life, and
there's nothing like that. I didn't get
sober to get on with my life. I wanted a
plan for living and to move forward, and
that's what I got." As Lucas' program
helps to ease recovering people and
professional athletes back into their
profession he helps to provide the ideal
step, imitating the pro lifestyle and
workout regimen while still providing the
clinical support and aftercare that they
need.
If you are, or if you know of someone in
need of drug and alcohol treatment and
rehabilitation, get in touch with John H.
Lucas Enterprises. |