Tznius: A lesson in humility from James Worthy

Yesterday I wrote about Ari and J.B., two orthodox Jewish men I know who could use a lesson in humility. Or two. They should pay attention to James Worthy.

I am about to repeat something I read in Sports Illustrated in a "Where are they now?" feature. I tried to find it at si.com so I could simply post it in its original form and give credit where it's due, to the author and publisher. But I couldn't find it. If anyone knows which issue it is, please let me know.

James Worthy played basketball with Michael Jordan at North Carolina and won a national championship there. He went on to light up the Great Western Forum in Englewood, Calif., and win five world championships for the Los Angeles Lakers with Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. As one of the Lakers' all-time greats, Worthy's retired jersey hangs from the rafters of Staples Center, the Lakers' new arena in downtown Los Angeles.

Worthy has two pre-teen or teenage daughters. He never told them about his days with the Lakers. It's not important to him; or it's not important in terms of his relationship with his daughters. Does being one of the greatest basketball players have an impact on what kind of father Worthy is? Not to Worthy. I read this article several years ago, and I wish I'd saved it, despite the massive amounts of stuff I've accumulated over the years. I still remember the end of the article. Worthy took his daughters to Staples Center to attend a Britney Spears concert. They were sitting in their seats when one of the girls looked up and noticed a Lakers jersey hanging above them with "WORTHY" silk-screened on the back. "Look, Daddy," she said, "Someone has the same name as us." She honestly didn't make the connection. Worthy corrected her. "No, honey, that was me."

I'm very suspicious of urban legend-type stories that fly across the internet. This sounds like one of them. But I suspect it's true, and if it is, James Worthy just taught a lesson from which all of us could learn and be inspired.