“I remember one time I wrote something very, very critical about Wilt Chamberlain. The next time I saw him - and Wilt was not a man, as huge as he was - he was not a man of confrontation. And we were in the Lakers locker room. And he sent Jerry West over, and he said, 'Frank, Wilt would like you to leave.'”

American sportswriter and novelist

Frank Deford was an American sportswriter and novelist. He was born in 1938 and died in 2017. He is best known for his long career writing about sports and for his familiar presence on radio. From 1980 until his death, Deford was a regular sports commentator on NPR's Morning Edition. His work moved between journalism and fiction, and his public voice was closely associated with sports writing, commentary, and the culture around athletics.