- [Male Voice] Coming up on Legacy List with Matt Paxton.

The team is in Columbus, Ohio to help an NBA legend and his wife settle into their forever home.

Over the years, the family has moved several times and many of their belongings are still in boxes.

- [Cheryl] Wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling, front-to-back.

- [Matt] That includes a treasure trove of championship collectibles.

- Autographed by Shaquille O'Neil.

- [Mike] Oh my gosh.

- [Matt] I'm Matt Paxton.

Let's do it, man.

My team of specialists, Jaime, Mike and Avi help me help people downsize their homes and settle estates.

As the largest population of baby boomers in American history transition towards retirement, they and their families face the overwhelming task of emptying their homes to move.

We help them sift through a lifetime of possessions- - Bingo.

- [Matt] heirlooms and collectibles... We have a literally found a piece of history.

To help them find the missing family treasures that mean the most to them.

- Oh, my goodness.

- [Matt] Jackie Robinson.

And along the way, they'll discover that the most important museum in the world may be in their family's basement.

- Oh.

- Oh.

- I've never seen that.

That is cool looking.

- From attics to cellars, closets to cupboards, we uncover the memories they want to preserve.

This is living history.

This is what we're here to find.

Let's go.

- Let's go.

- [Matt] And discover the compelling, personal, and often historical stories spanning generations that are their family's legacy.

(upbeat music stops) (birds chirping) - [Female Voice] Funding for Legacy List is provided by Bekins Van Lines.

At Bekins, our goal is to provide a smooth and simple moving experience no matter the size or distance of your move.

Bekins is ready to help you get there.

You can find us at bekins.com.

Bekins.

This is Moving.

- [Female Voice] FirstLight Home Care.

Committed to providing safe and compassionate home services for you and your family.

FirstLight believes personal relationships and engagement are as important as mobility, bathing and personal hygiene.

Details at firstlighthomecare.com.

- [Female Voice] The Mavins Group, a downsizing real estate sales and move management company committed to easing the emotional and physical demands of beginning a new stage of life.

The Mavins Group.

So much more than a move.

- [Female Voice] Insure Long Term Care, where we believe that aging at home, your friends and family is ever more possible for more people.

Learn more at insureltc.com.

- [Female Voice] And by the Ruth Camp Campbell Foundation.

(upbeat music ends) (upbeat cheerful music starts) - Today I'm in Columbus, Ohio, capital of the Buckeye state.

I'm here to meet Jim and Cheryl Cleamons.

They've been moving for 20 years because of Jim's job, and now that they're retired, they need help settling into their forever home because they're tired of living out of boxes.

(upbeat cheerful music) (soft knocking) Hello, hello.

- Hey.

How are you.

So good to meet you.

- Good to finally meet you in person.

- Yes, sir.

- Coach, good to see you, man.

- Nice to see you.

- Thank you, thank you.

This is awesome.

- Yeah.

- Very cool.

(upbeat cheerful music) Tell me why we're here.

Give me the whole story.

- We're literally downsizing.

We're kind of downsizing different than most people do.

Instead of downsizing in actual house size we're taking multiple houses that we have here and downsizing them into one.

- Everywhere you've lived you all have boxes in each place.

- Oh, yeah.

So we have boxes from New Orleans, from Dallas, from Chicago, from Los Angeles.

Oh, my God.

And there's Oklahoma, Milwaukee- - Everything.

- and New York.

So yeah.

- So it's all now to come here.

- All here in Ohio.

- Okay.

All right, and that's where we're retiring.

- This is where we are.

- Okay, are we retired or not?

- This is where we are.

I'm too young to retire.

- Fair enough, okay.

All right, all right.

Okay, are you retired, or you're not?

- I'm still active- - Okay.

- and if the right job or opportunity came along I would certainly think about it because it's still in my blood.

- Okay.

Jim's career is amazing.

As a player he played with Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor.

He even won a NBA Championship as a rookie and then he went on to coach with Phil Jackson and some of the best.

Kobe, Shaq and Jordan and Pippen with Chicago.

You are a teacher educator.

- [Jim] Yes.

- [Matt] You were a player.

- [Jim] Yes.

- And then the world would label you a coach at one point.

- Well, I don't mind what others say.

I do.

I would hope that the proof is in the pudding as to how well I do it and those that listened to me and understand what I'm trying to do is make our communities and our young people who want to aspire to be athletes, make them better people.

- Okay.

The proof is in the pudding with your story.

You've won a few championships.

- I've been fortunate enough to go to 12 NBA Championships and of the 12 I've been to our teams have won 10.

- Okay, so nine as a teacher- - One as a player.

- one as a player.

- Kinda cool.

- It is very cool.

- [Cheryl] It is very cool.

- [Matt] It is very cool.

- [Cheryl] Yeah.

(upbeat cheerful music) - All right, so this is where the real stuff is.

- Yes.

We're getting there.

- All right.

- [Cheryl] We're getting there.

- [Matt] So walk me through this.

How did we get like this?

'Cause you're an ordered person.

- I got stuck.

- Okay, when?

- I got stuck here.

- What got y'all stuck?

What do you think?

- Time.

- Sentiment.

- Sentiment, okay.

- I look at the boxes and I think, gosh, who knows where they're from?

Can be from 10 different cities.

- [Cheryl] It could be.

- Jim's got his first year off in a very long time and although I think he's kind of on the bench ready to go again, they finally got a pause in his career and they can unpack all their stuff.

How much of this stuff is your adult children's?

- Oh, 75.

- There's a lot of emotions and the kids have been in college and we don't want to discard anything that they want.

So we have been, not necessarily dysfunctional, but waiting to get together.

- We've given them the opportunity through high school, through the beginnings of college.

Now, it's my turn to help them.

- Okay.

How many kids do y'all have?

- We have two daughters.

- Oh, you remembered.

Okay, good.

Just wanted to see if you remember.

- Yeah.

- All right, so we got all these boxes over here and then we've got all these boxes over here, but I know it doesn't add up.

Where's the real volume?

- Okay, you ready?

- I'm ready.

(upbeat cheerful music) - All right, here we go.

- [Matt] Show me this.

- [Jim] You got your eyes closed?

- [Cheryl] There's two doors, remember?

- [Matt] All right.

- So we're talking about wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling, front-to-back.

- Okay, this is real.

- It's just a little bit.

It's real.

- Crates, furniture.

I mean, it's really two garages deep.

It's doable.

I mean, I've got a big team we'll bring in here.

What's this space do when we're done with it?

It'll be emptied.

- It's a house.

- A house for this car?

- Yes.

- All right, this is gorgeous.

- My mom bought it from my brother in 1973.

He learned how to drive on it.

And then he taught my sister and then she learned how to drive on it.

And then she taught me how to drive on it.

It's not allowed to leave the family.

- [Matt] All right.

- [Jim] Not at this point.

- [Matt] This is going to be a lot of work, but if we can empty this space, get it more organized, make enough space for this car, uncover a few items, will this be enough to get you guys started?

- That'd be great to get to get me started.

- So the only thing left to do is for us go inside.

I'm want to sit down and I want to learn about everything on your Legacy List.

- Okay.

- Are you ready?

- Let's do it.

- Okay.

(upbeat music stops) (upbeat music starts) - We're here to help you as opposed to kind of save you.

A lot of families are lost.

They don't know what to do.

Think y'all just need help physically.

It's a little different.

So the stuff part is pretty easy.

All right, we're going to organize the room behind me.

Then we're going to spend majority of the time in the garage.

- Yes.

- That's the real, I think, holding everybody back, right.

Normally, we have you guys just kind of go away and let us do our thing, but I think, one, I want you there just because you know all the answers and I just want to hear your stories to be honest.

So I hope that you'll be there with us.

It's a lot, but we can do it.

All right, main reason we're here, Legacy List.

- Okay.

- And I am very excited to hear what's on your ultimate Legacy List.

- Oh, well we do have a few items that are out there that we're kind of looking for.

- Okay.

- Quite frankly, I think I've got some sports jewelry out there.

- Okay, walk me through the sports jewelry.

What is that?

- When they won a championship, I worked really hard for it too so I got a gift.

- So as a girlfriend, I got a necklace, and as a wife, I got a couple of rings too.

- Okay, so the wives or the partners, they also get some type of... - They can get if their significant other- - Are as amazing as yours.

- Yes, and they deem that.

- So I have one pendant and I think three rings.

- Okay, I've never seen any of these championship rings.

I don't know what they would look like.

If by any chance, would you have a ring to show me what it would look like or anything?

- I have a couple.

You wanna see them?

- Yeah, I'd love to see at least one.

Yeah.

When I realized I was going to Jim Cleamons house, I got excited because I know he's got 10 NBA rings, but I was glad he knew where they were.

So they weren't on the Legacy List.

Man, this is...

I mean, this is real history.

- It's pretty cool, isn't it?

- It's really cool.

You have 10 rings.

Do you ever just wear them out, like all 10?

I can't see you do it.

- As proud as I am of those rings, my favorite is not a championship ring.

It's a ring that was given to us as team members in commemorance of winning 33 games in a row.

- [Cheryl] It's still the record too.

- Yeah, it's still the record.

Most wins in a row.

And I was kind of just trying to act like I'd been there before and not show that I was really excited, but it was fascinating to actually hold these things.

So what else do we have?

- He still has the training and practice books from during his time and they should be in a box in the garage and that's on the list.

- That's on the Legacy List?

- That's on the list to look for.

- Each day we have a practice plan.

It's almost like a teacher's.

Which were accomplished today?

- So the equation for success is in these books.

Okay.

- We've got like little pink shoes.

Little girl's dance shoes that our little dancer, our daughter, Imani.

- And she's now... - Wizards dancer.

- She's now a Wizards dancer.

And you started off as a dancer.

- I danced, yes.

I'm a World Champion Cheerleader.

- There it is.

(Cheryl laughs) - [Matt] All right, what else we have?

- So he's got some scrapbooks that were created for them.

- Yeah, walk me through that.

You said someone gave you as a gift.

- Yeah, we had a young man who worked in the sports information department.

Unbeknownst to me he'd been keeping a scrapbook of basically my entire college career and they were in binders like this.

- Wow.

- But he taken the time to put this together for me and like I said, it was one of the kindest gestures someone's ever done.

I know we had it.

Now, the question is, do we still have it?

- So my grandma, bless her heart, she used to hand make our quilts.

So she used to hand cut her patterns and it looked like a little baby doll and she'd created these little squares.

And then when you flip the quilt over, it was very cool because they were made out of flour sacks.

And so it would say Birmingham Alabama Flour Company so it was like... And so it was pretty cool and I'm very attached to them.

So hopefully it's there.

- All right, what else do we have?

- I have a couple more things.

- I'm in.

- One thing that I think means a lot to both of us is our wedding brooms are out there.

I'm not sure if you know what those are.

- You would jump the broom.

- Absolutely, we did, and there's the picture.

- Walk me through the historical significance - Of jumping the broom?

- Yeah.

- During slavery, slaves weren't allowed to marry.

So it signified their commitment to each other and that's the moment that they became connected and married.

- Jumping the broom is a popular ritual at black weddings.

Once a couple is pronounced married, they hold hands, face the crowd and jump over a broomstick on the floor.

It's a custom that's been around for hundreds of years.

When enslaved couples were forbidden from legally marrying, they would jump the broom to signify their commitment to each other.

Some speculate the practice started in Ghana.

Other historians trace it back to the Romany communities of 18th century Wales.

You might need a broom to sweep up after another popular wedding tradition, throwing rice, possibly dating back to the ancient Romans.

The ritual is meant to symbolize fertility and prosperity.

These days some couples go against the grain and opt for pedals or even bubbles.

A Jewish wedding ceremony ends with stomping on a cloth-wrapped glass.

Traditionally, the groom does the smashing.

Nowadays, both spouses may take part.

Some interpret the broken glass as a reminder of life's fragility.

Even at joyous ceremonies, we carry the sorrow of our ancestors.

As soon as the glass breaks guests shout mazel tov.

Which marriage tradition is actually a relatively recent invention?

Diamond engagement rings.

Turns out diamonds are a girl's best friend thanks to marketers.

In 1947, ad copywriter, Mary Francis Garrity coined the famous slogan, "A diamond is forever."

and the diamond ring took off in popularity.

Whatever you do to say "I do" the memories and keepsakes can last a lifetime.

- So yeah, the final thing on the list.

Most of the stuff been out there it's been packed for the last 16 years since hurricane Katrina.

- Oh, you were there?

- Oh, yes, my birthday weekend.

We were having a birthday party until we got jumped in the car with 1.5 million people and drove away from New Orleans, in what, walls of water?

- Man, I can't imagine.

Coach, you're pretty Zen, man.

You're pretty chill.

I'm curious, hearing these stories, what does it make you think, make you feel?

- Thankful that it wasn't any worse.

Being caught on a bridge, sun shining, and within the next 45 minutes it's pitch dark.

- Still on the bridge.

- Still on the bridge.

Bumper to bumper.

- The water was- - We were bumper to bumper.

- We could not see anything around us.

We were just kind of in the car just waiting to see what happens.

- That was really emotional to think that like, they just took what they could and they left and they hoped they'd get out of there.

And that really puts a lot in perspective.

- Ironically, we were unpacking our house 'cause we had just moved in it when we had evacuated.

- So it was all packed up.

- So it was still in the garage packed up for the most part and all over the house.

So literally things that are out there packed, they've been packed since 2005.

- Well, I was worried we'd have nothing to talk about other than basketball.

Clearly, that's not the case.

We've got a lot to talk about.

I've got my marching orders.

This is...

I'm excited to get in there.

There's some real actual history in your garage.

(upbeat cheerful music) - [Cheryl] All right, where is he?

He's hiding.

- Yeah, there he is.

- There he is.

- What's up guys.

- [Avi] How's it going?

- [Mike] Hi, Matt.

- [Jaime] Hey.

- Welcome to Columbus.

- [Avi] Thanks.

- [Jaime] This is beautiful.

- Ohio, Ohio.

- Beautiful home.

Great family.

We have a lot of work to do this week.

- What else is new?

- Did Gabe send to you the research?

- Yup.

- Jim and Cheryl Cleamons.

Amazing family.

You know, was an NBA coach for many years.

They've moved over 10 times over 20 years.

- [Mike] Wow.

- That's a lot of moves.

- [Matt] Yeah.

- That's overwhelming.

- That's why we're here- - Yeah.

- all right.

- It's interesting to be on this side of it, you know.

Like, usually we're in a house to help somebody move out, but this time they moved in and we're still trying to help them kind of figure out where things go.

- They need to settle.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

And they've just never been able to, because they've always been moving to the next job and they're just stuck.

It's really weighing them down.

I mean, their whole life is on hold.

- Yeah.

The task of unpacking is very daunting.

Especially when you have boxes that you haven't looked at in 15 or 20 years.

So I can understand why Cheryl and Jim are hesitant to really start the unpacking process.

- Legacy List is wedding brooms.

- Wedding brooms.

- Wedding brooms.

- The original wedding rooms.

Cheryl was a professional dancer in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls, and then now, this daughter, she just became a dancer for the Washington Wizards.

- What?

- Yeah, and so now we've got to find her little baby dance shoes which is pretty cool.

Cheryl's grandma was a quilter in Alabama.

- Oh, wow.

- Just amazing, beautiful quilts.

We've got to find those.

We've got a whole bunch of stuff from Katrina.

So we just want to put that to the side so the family can really go through that.

That's going to be really important to go through those boxes.

And then we've got a ton of sports memorabilia.

And when I say a ton, I mean a ton.

- As I started to learn about Jim and his career, I was so excited because I was a huge Bulls fan, huge Lakers fan and I could not wait to see what kind of memorabilia he had.

- Just remember when you find a pair of shoes, they don't necessarily just go right into the donation.

(laughing) - It could be Michael Jordan's.

- It could be Kobe's or it could be Shaq's.

I think you'll know if you find Shaq's shoes.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

(crosstalk) - Anything they can donate to make someone's life better they would like to do that.

- Cool.

- So re-homing is the word we're gonna use here?

Donating.

We're not really looking at sell as an option.

So you and I will start picking out here this morning and then I need you to bring the full team in.

And I mean, we really need to be able to pull a car into that garage.

- Are you going to show us what's behind the door?

- [Matt] Do you want to see it?

- [Jaime] I do want to see it.

- [Mike] Rip the bandaid off.

- [Matt] Okay, here we go.

- [Jaime] Oh, yeah, you weren't lying.

- [Matt] No, it's a lot.

- [Jaime] You we're not lying.

Oh, my goodness.

- When I looked at it, it looked like it was just a two car garage.

I didn't realize how far back it went.

- All right, we'll see you in a bit.

- All, right we will see you.

- Good luck.

(upbeat cheerful music) - Furniture.

A lot of furniture on the side.

(upbeat cheerful music) - When you walk into the living room, you expect it to be a room you can live in.

In this case, not so much.

- It honestly looked like the moving truck had just left.

- One, two, three.

Let's just go against the side of the house.

- Okay.

- This is great.

- Oh, my God.

Keeping you back out here.

- Avi and I found a ton of stuff in the family room.

We found boxes full of old board games, puzzles, a box of crayons that belong to their daughters when they were little that still smelled like crayons smell.

Does that not bring back your childhood?

- God, I'm at my desk in first grade right now.

(upbeat music) - Hey Mike, come here real quick.

I need help with this.

- All right.

- Just pull on the outside.

- I think I found some cool stuff.

Whoa.

Yep, I did.

Pretty quickly, Mike and I find incredible basketball history.

Look at all these balls.

- Oh my God.

What is that?

- It's Mr Cleamons'.

- 1993.

- Oh, no way.

- This is the 1993 Chicago Bulls.

To sit there and hold a ball from the NBA Championship game signed by all these amazing players.

That was a really special thing.

Michael Jordan there.

- Oh, my gosh.

Look where he signed it.

- Of course.

(Matt laughs) Wow, man, this is crazy.

- It should be in a museum somewhere, but it is in this garage.

- What team is that?

That would be '91.

- This is Bill Kurt, right.

- '91 World Champion.

- Will Perdue.

- I've never found anything like this.

- Yeah.

- Thing is insane.

- If I had one of these, I would build a shrine for it.

- I mean, and I get it.

I guess once you, you know, have this many, you get like- - A little jaded.

- Yeah, it's not as big a deal when you got, you know, 10 of them.

(upbeat music) - [Male Voice] Basketball.

It's a sport played around the world, but its roots are uniquely American.

It all begins in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1891.

A YMCA instructor by the name of James Naismith wants to keep bored students distracted while they're stuck indoors throughout a harsh winter.

His solution, peach baskets.

He nails two on wooden poles and challenges students to throw the ball into a basket.

The first game is chaos.

Players tackle each other and only a single basket is made.

Naismith realizes he has to set some ground rules.

The most important, no running with the ball.

Naismith writes up the first official rule book and the game of basketball takes off.

It's a big hit with colleges and in 1946, a professional league, the Basketball Association of America is formed.

The league is a success, but it takes another four years before the first African-American player, Chuck Cooper is drafted.

The college game takes even longer to accept black players.

The watershed moment comes on March 19th, 1966.

That's the night an all-black starting five from Texas Western College defeats the powerful and all-white team from Kentucky for the National Championship.

Colleges across the country slowly began offering scholarships to players based on talent, not skin color.

For over 50 years, the popularity of both college and pro basketball has been a slam dunk.

Thanks to television rights and superstar players basketball is now a billion dollar business that spans the globe.

Basketball has come a long way since that first game and its future looks down right peachy.

(children chattering) (upbeat rock music) - I just don't want to... - All right, I'll go through these.

- Yeah, this is unbelievable.

I know that color.

- Oh, no.

I've got this.

- Take that.

- I think I know what this is.

- You know that's Lakers colors.

- Yeah.

He coached for them and played for them.

- Oh, my gosh.

- Shaquille O'Neil, 34.

Look at the back.

Look on the number.

(Mike gasps) Autographed by Shaquille O'Neil.

- Oh, my gosh.

That is crazy.

- Holy cow.

Shaq Diesel.

As a guy that grew up watching basketball, this is an incredible garage to clean out, but we have to remember, for Cheryl, this is just her husband's junk and she's been hauling it around for 25 years and she just wants it gone.

(upbeat cheerful music ends) (upbeat cheerful music) - One of the things we found as we were looking through the boxes was one of the Legacy List items.

It was the quilt.

Quilts?

- Some of them.

It was actually in a box with some other baby blankets that belong to their daughters.

Look at that.

- [Avi] Oh, yeah.

- I think when we have these family heirlooms that were actually handmade by generations past, it adds another layer of sentimental value and that's why I think this quilt is important to Cheryl.

- This is awesome find here.

We're looking forward to sharing it with Cheryl.

(upbeat music) - Look at this.

Michael Jordan autograph.

- '92.

- '92.

- Wow.

- 99 out of a hundred times I tell everybody recycle the magazines.

Not this stack, man.

- No.

- Look at this.

Dude, what.

This is insane.

It's amazing.

All the collectibles have skyrocketed, especially sports memorabilia, and it was really fascinating to see how much history was in that garage.

(upbeat music) - All right, I mean we... - The tri... Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

The triangle offense.

- Yeah.

I mean, this is insane, dude.

This is coach's notes.

- Oh.

- Coach's notes from those Bulls teams.

He's taking these at practices and developing plays.

- That's awesome.

One of the really key factors of collecting is the provenance and being able to trace the history of the items.

There is no question he was right there and he was getting these things signed from the players and coaches himself.

- I guess this would be handed out to the players to tell how long ago it was.

Hand them handouts.

It's like, go memorize this.

All right, okay, look.

I mean, we're not even putting a dent in this room and we're all ready have found more work than you could ever have.

Let's call Jaime and Avi in here.

- All right.

- Got to get everybody in here.

Kind of an all hands on deck to go through all this.

- Okay.

(upbeat music ends) (upbeat music starts) - Me and my team, we're going to start and we're going to need you or Jim to really help us make some of these decisions.

- I'm confident 80% Of the furniture that's in here could be donated.

- Okay.

As soon as I met Cheryl, I knew she was a take-charge kind of woman.

She was going to be able to make the decisions that we needed to be made in a really efficient manner.

- Where are we starting?

- Well, I mean, you know, we've got this furniture right here.

I think it's like a Murphy bed or something.

- It is.

It's a Murphy bed and it is usable and it's a donation.

- All right.

- So we need to find it a home.

- [Mike] Boom.

- [Cheryl] Okay, excellent.

- Done.

- The tall one behind you.

- All right.

- Boom.

- Boom.

- I like this process.

I'm all in, let's go.

- I see there's a lot of clothes and I'm sure there's a lot more back here somewhere.

Is there anywhere in particular we should look at donating them to?

- I always thought that when people got out of incarceration they got something, but they are released with nothing and they're put in work programs.

And so I thought it'd be a good place to maybe find a place that could help them with some of these clothes.

And then I know that the Urban League of Columbus has My Brother's Closet and I know that a few of these clothes could work well there.

I think that would be helpful for them.

- All right, that's great.

There's some big pieces of furniture.

Like this is big.

- Yeah, there's something bigger back there.

Maybe two or three things that are bigger back here.

- All right, well, the good news is with big pieces of furniture they create big pockets of space when they leave.

- That's awesome.

- So we get a few of those things out we're well on our way to fitting a car in here.

- That's cool.

- All right.

Thanks, Cheryl.

- I can do that.

(upbeat music) - I've moved my kids and it's a lot.

It's a lot to put on a family to pick them up and move them one time and they've done it 10 plus times.

I mean, these girls are amazing to know they've had to pack up and move over and over and over again.

- How many times have we moved?

- I honestly can't say.

I don't know how many times we've moved.

Mostly when we were younger and then it stopped once we got into high school.

- I remember moving back and forth to New Orleans and California.

- A big advantage of that for me is that we're very close.

Like we're very good friends.

And I know a lot of people have sibling rivalries and stuff like that, but I go to Rose all the time for everything.

She's basically my best friend.

So moving a lot created a bond with us because I know what she's going through, she knows what I'm going through.

- This family had a unique bond.

They've moved across the country and back again, but they've always done it together.

And now they're here to really put roots in what's going to be their family home.

- We're very happy that you're here to help us get rid of stuff and it won't be hard for anyone except for my dad.

- Yes.

- Yes.

(both laughing) My mom is very much like if we're not using it, if we haven't thought about it, and we see it, it's out.

We clearly don't need it at this point.

And I totally agree, but my dad, I think he feels kind of more deeply connected to items than the rest of us do.

He's definitely going to be the one to try and hold on to as much as he can.

- So we have some clothes to go through, it looks like.

- Okay.

Yes, we do.

- Yes, we do.

And you know, I tell people that it's okay to keep things that are sentimental, but we do have to make some tough decisions- - We will.

- and we've identified some great local organizations that we are going to donate things to.

So I'll let pick out something and tell me why you're ready to get rid of it.

- Okay, those.

And if I got one of those I probably got five.

- Okay, so we can let this one go.

- We can let that one go.

- Okay, I'll hold on to the ones we're going to donate.

Now, I see some suits over here too.

Are these suits that you would wear for games?

I mean, I always notice.

I may not be the biggest sports aficionado, but I do notice that the coaches are always dressed.

- I'm not employed right now so I don't have to worry about it.

- No.

Jim was ultimately ready to let go of a lot of these items, but not before he told the story of what each one meant.

- This team did some special stuff and because they invite us back to give us these in commemoration of the year that we had that year in that team, I got to keep this.

- Absolutely.

Yeah, that's definitely a keep.

- Yeah, that's a keeper right there.

- All right, onto the next rack.

I see some jackets over there.

- Well, this used to be one of my favorite jackets.

This was an expensive suit.

I remember buying this suit.

(laughing) Okay.

- Now, that's why a lot of people keep things instead of donating them when they should, because of what they paid for them.

It's really about, are you going to use it?

Go with your gut.

- Go with my gut?

Well, once again, we're doing someone a solid.

- We're donating them to the community.

They're absolutely going to be used.

- And they're going to want to look good.

And I think that we should go ahead and make sure that they look good.

Dress for success.

- Dress for success.

That's awesome.

(upbeat music) - I mean, here we are.

More than 15 years after Katrina and some of the things that they pack then are still in boxes.

I bet this is going to be a really emotional experience to go through these boxes.

- What is definitely trash?

- Almost everything Christmasy is trash.

- Okay, I'm going to get all the Christmas together.

- If you put it all together... - And then I'm gong to let you make that decision.

- Just a little bit, yeah.

- I'm just not feeling like I need to make any decisions for you.

I want to set it up so you can make them quickly.

- Yeah, that's what I would love.

- When you've been waiting to have your garage cleaned this long, it's scary when it actually happens.

- I'm sorry, I'm about to cry.

I don't want to cry.

- No, you don't need to cry.

It's all right.

Thank you for trusting us.

I know this is hard.

As we start to unpack these boxes, we have to be very careful.

We have to go at the right pace and we have to keep Cheryl in charge or otherwise it's just too much emotion happening at the same time.

- I think we'll get all the sports together, all the holiday together, all the pictures, put those together, and then you can start to make your decisions pretty quick.

Okay.

You know, we've got a lot of basketball history in this house, but we also have a lot of US history.

I mean, Katrina is a massive event.

One of the biggest meteorological events in our nation's history.

(upbeat ominous music) - Hurricanes, they're a force of nature, capable of destroying everything in their path.

When warm air rises, surrounding air rushes in to replace it.

Storm clouds are formed and thanks to the Earth's rotation, begin to spin like giant atmospheric tops.

When the winds reach sustained speeds of at least 74 miles per hour, they're called a hurricane.

As these super storms approach land, they're given names.

The tradition of naming storms started with meteorologist Clement Wragge in the late 19th century.

How did he pick the names?

(thunder claps) Good old fashion grudges.

He named weather events after politicians he disliked.

Starting in 1953 the National Hurricane Center began naming Atlantic storms.

Originally, they were only named after women, but that changed in 1979 when activist Roxcy Bolton pointed out that women shouldn't take all the blame for natural disasters.

The deadliest hurricane in US history took place in 1900.

That's when the city of Galveston, Texas was hit by a hurricane packing winds of over 140 miles per hour.

Over 10,000 people lost their lives and another 10,000 were left homeless.

And then there was Hurricane Katrina.

On August 29th, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall near New Orleans with winds up to 170 miles per hour.

Levees catastrophically failed and 80% of the city flooded.

Many were unable to evacuate and thousands were forced to flee the city.

All in all over 1 million Gulf Coast residents fled their homes.

Still, many residents returned to rebuild their communities.

Neighbors delivered groceries.

Volunteers provided free medical care.

In times of unprecedented tragedy, people demonstrate extraordinary generosity.

It seems the one thing a hurricane can't destroy is the human spirit.

(upbeat music) - We were lucky enough that Jim was ready to donate some of these suits and the Urban League was going to be the beneficiary.

- [Jaime] You got it?

- Yeah.

(indistinct) - There we go.

Hello.

- Hey, how are you today?

- How are you?

I'm Jaime, nice to meet you.

- Nice to see you.

- I'm Avi.

Nice to meet you.

- Nice to see you too.

Avi, I love that name.

- [Avi] Thank you.

- Well, thank you for coming over today to learn more about My Brother's Closet.

- Absolutely.

Would love to hear a little bit more about it.

What you all do?

- Sure.

Probably about eight years ago, our workforce development program manager was saying that I'm trying to get people, when they were coming in to do their mock interviews, we're trying to get them ready for work.

And he said, but we really want to get them ready, not just with the verbal cues and communications, but how do we help people to start looking more appropriate?

So he asked if it was okay if I went to a local cleaners and picked up the shirts that, you know, people abandon their clothes for a long time.

And then one day we had one of our clients.

We were trying to get him ready for the next day for his interview and we said you need to put on your tie and tuck your shirt in.

And he was really resistant.

He finally tucked his shirt in and his belt was a coat hanger.

And that's what he had to lift up.

And so from there that just inspired the program manager at the time, and myself, and said we've got to make sure we get people suited and booted because it really plays into their psyche.

- Absolutely.

- For them to feel good about going to a job interview... - You look good, you play good.

- Exactly.

Absolutely.

- Do you want to take a look at what we brought in just to make sure that it's, you know, up to the standards of donation?

- Oh, sure, and you know, especially because these clothes are all ready, you know, been laundered.

That's really important.

Oh gosh.

And these are also...

These sizes are tall men sizes and that's really important to us because a lot of times the tall men... Oh, and there's even new stuff in here too.

That's really impressive.

Yeah, these are tall men... And a lot of times our big and tall men get left out because there's not a lot of inventory for them.

So this is fantastic.

- Awesome.

Donating these clothes was a win-win.

I got them out of the garage and into the hands of someone who really needed them.

- Columbus is very lucky to have the Urban League and your leadership and this program.

- This makes a difference when you're trying to get people out of generational poverty.

So we appreciate the county commissioners and a lot of the corporate community and folks who just...

Even we have some old board members who came in last week.

I got some suits, right.

I'm retired now.

Let me get rid of these suits and put them in the right place.

- Yeah.

- That's great.

- That's amazing.

(upbeat music) - We're going through the garage and there are still Legacy List items to be found.

We weren't having much luck in the house.

So with the clock winding down, we pulled in everybody.

The whole family was there.

We were determined to get this done.

(paper rustling) - That is awesome.

- The garage was a really big emotional job and thank goodness Mike and his team were there because they really were able to focus in with Cheryl and get a lot done in the garage.

(upbeat music) You can read a line about coach Cleamons as a professional, but I wanted to get to know a little more about him as a person.

I was really lucky to meet with his old college teammate, JT at St. John arena, where they played basketball.

St. John arena.

So it's been a few years since you've been here.

- Over half of my life.

What you mean it's been a few years?

- More than half of your life.

- Yes, indeed.

50 something years.

- Obviously we're not playing ball here anymore.

They've got teams practicing.

- Right, yeah.

- I've been spending the last couple of days with Jim and he's quiet.

He's humble.

And then you get these pockets of just like intensity.

- Oh, he's smart.

- Super smart.

- Smart.

- When we were going through his garage we found a lot of his practice notes from the NBA.

And this dude cares more about practice than he does about the game.

- Oh, yeah.

Cleamon was the same.

He practiced hard, he played hard.

I think that's what got the respect of the guys 'cause you didn't settle down.

When Clem was on your defense wide, you had to be ready.

You had to be ready.

That's how he'd always been.

'Cause it seemed like he always had a plan.

- We're finding notes on like, you know, Pippen, Jordan.

I mean some of the best players ever, and he's writing notes on how to talk to them.

Not necessarily what the play is.

- I think early on, he was always grooming us how to be a coach.

That's what coaches used to do.

Clem was a general on the floor.

- He was the boss.

- He was general on the floor.

No question about it.

He knew everybody, where it's going, everything.

So this is during the game.

Smart.

He just took care of business.

That's what he did.

- That's awesome.

Well, everything you're saying adds up to the guy we're talking about.

- Oh, yeah.

- It was really cool to walk in the St John Arena and see Jim's picture up on the wall with all these accolades and awards.

This is a show about legacy and rarely do I meet a living legacy.

(upbeat music ends) (slow music) All right.

We are here a few days later, very long days.

You all have moved so much.

I think packing is a lot easier than unpacking, but we came here to help you clean out the garage to kind of get that jumpstart.

And I'm happy to say we achieved that.

- I realized early on that we needed help.

The magnitude of what you guys have done to help us, all the work that you and your crew has done has been just remarkable.

So we're very appreciative.

- We appreciate you guys letting us in here.

Let's not look over the fact I got to hold 10 championship rings this week.

For me, that's really cool.

I like that I don't see, you know...

Your whole life's not about that.

You know, you were gone, how many years?

It's decades, right?

- Yep.

- Two decades.

- You've been gone 20 years working and you work those 20 years to retire together.

You just keep coming up as the glue, right.

So I wrote a couple of labels down and I forgot to list here.

- Okay.

- I've got wife.

I've got mom.

I got videographer.

I've got cook, homeworker, and of course, we got dancer.

- Yeah.

- [Matt] I love this picture.

- [Cheryl] Do you?

- [Matt] Fierce.

- [Cheryl] Yeah?

- You're going at it.

- Yeah, I haven't seen that in a while.

- What are you thinking?

- Well, he's right there on the sideline watching.

(laughing) - I saw Cheryl, my first night as assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls.

I'm there for a job too.

And so she just my eye, but I'm there to work and she's doing her job and that was it.

- [Matt] I love it.

- All right, you'd asked me to find your grandmother's quilt.

- Yes.

- We found a quilt, but it's a well-used quilt.

- Yes, it is.

- It's homemade.

- Do you remember this quilt?

- I do.

This would be my biological father's mother.

I think she stitched every article of clothing that she had.

She and her sister, they would quilt and they would cut little patterns and save little pieces of fabrics from curtains or, you know, just scraps that they would find and you know, just create pieces of love.

- This was a simple item, but I love it because you grab it and you can hug it and you can think of your family.

All right, the next item you guys asked us to find was the brooms.

- Look at you.

I explained to you a little bit of the history about what jumping the broom means.

So when Jim and I wed we were older.

Late bloomers that we are.

We were the only two that stood up.

We didn't have a best man or a maid of honor or matron of honor.

So the two people that would have been those surprised us with the brooms.

- Oh, that's cool.

- So yes.

- So one represents... - The gentleman that would have been Jim's best man and the other one is from the woman that would have been my matron of honor.

Somewhere there's a picture of us jumping in mid air.

- Yeah.

Not only did we find the wedding brooms, but we also found the wedding picture after a bunch of searching.

It was very well packed.

Almost hidden.

We didn't find it until a few minutes ago honestly.

(all laughing) - I believe it.

- I loved that your wedding brooms were a part of your list.

Where will these go in this house?

- Well, probably hang them over the entries.

Yeah, because they're there to bring good fortune and good energy and spirit into the home.

- I like it.

And at the end of the day is a family.

- And that's a very special picture.

- Yeah, that's my dad's first visit to Disneyland.

That's one of my favorite family pictures of us all.

- [Cheryl] It was a good day.

- It was a really good day.

- Well, let's go over what we didn't find.

We didn't find a lot of things, actually.

We didn't find everything and that makes sense because this family has moved over 10 times.

Lots of times stuff gets lost in a move.

Didn't find the dance shoes.

I found some of your plays.

I didn't find, I think, full playbooks books, but I did find some books They had your notes in them and I didn't find your pendant.

Don't mean they're not out there.

- That's true.

- We did find something today that we didn't expect to find.

- Know what this is?

- Do not.

- All right.

- I think I do.

- You know what this is?

- Yeah.

- This is basically like a keepsake box of your older sister.

- Yeah.

- What do you remember about it?

- This is like during the era of the playhouse and everything.

So we are going through inspirational quotes and things that we thought would make us smile and make us imagine and dream.

I don't know what she put in it per se, but I do remember seeing the box always in her room.

- You've got quotes from arguably one of the best movies ever.

"Coming to America".

- We were young watching that.

- And Ralph Waldo Emerson.

I'll let you read one.

- "Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself."

- Your children are putting positive in front of them, setting goals and it's so cool to see how your daughters put that into their lives.

I mean, it's a show about legacy.

What do you think your legacy really is?

Is it rings?

- No, no.

- What is it?

- We have, you know, our quilt.

It represents love and security.

Okay, we have brooms that represent good vibes and you know, clean house.

- Well, we donated an enormous amount of clothes today.

- We donated an enormous amount, yes.

- People will be wearing those suits tomorrow, all right.

And they're going to get jobs interviews.

They're going to get their life back on track.

- You know, we're so fortunate and really blessed that between Imani and Rose, they're the next generation and hopefully what we pass on to them, they'll be able to pass on to their families.

- This was an item we did find.

You know what this is?

- Yes, I think so.

- This is the scrapbook that you asked us to find.

It has been weathered.

You were not kidding.

This is an extensive book.

It is amazing that somebody that was not family did this for you.

For him, the thing that he liked the most was that scrapbook.

I think it was a personal gift and it was something that someone worked really hard to make.

And you can really see the emotion in Jim's eyes.

He was really just happy.

You have some amazing things up.

You've got unlimited autographs of amazing athletes.

But to you, they're friends.

You got some game balls that are absolutely incredible that people have only read about.

I mean, I was looking at some game balls and then found a Shaq Jersey.

It's a little big and it's autographed, you know.

An autographed Shaq jersey.

All right, you're just like, yeah, whatever.

- Yeah.

When you're like eight and you walk up and meet Pau Gasol and you're like, hi, you're tall.

That's all you get.

- I found a picture of your sister, or you, being held by Phil Jackson.

- That was my sister.

I was like, what.

That's Phil Jackson.

- I mean we found so many cool things.

I found this.

This is your... We're tiny back here.

This is our last item, okay.

This was not on your list.

This was on my Legacy List.

- Okay.

I love this.

This is a Lakers.

- A cookout.

They were putting together a cookbook or something.

- I think he's got to tell us.

- Oh, okay.

Just hold on.

- I collect very random cookbooks.

- Do you really?

- I do.

- With my career I have a few random collections.

I love flat pennies and weird cookbooks.

And I actually had a cookbook for the LA Lakers that Jim and Cheryl were in.

- You have that... You did not get that out of my kitchen?

- No, this is mine.

(Cheryl laughs) - [Cheryl] What are the odds?

- Swear to God.

This is mine that I brought from home.

- Oh, yeah.

- And there and behold.

- There you are.

- You're in there too.

- [Cheryl] I forgot about that.

- There you are.

Y'all are in a random cook book I've got.

- A random cook book that you have.

(laughing) - As silly as this is, it wraps it up for me.

Yeah, you've had a crazy career and you have supported all of this.

Raised your children.

You guys somehow made it work, but you're still just a family.

- And that's a pretty representative picture of... - Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- A lot of people are going through what y'all going through right now.

Downsizing, but more importantly, someone's been on the road for a long time and now someone's coming home.

What kind of advice can you give to families that are going through it?

- The downsizing, do it together.

I'd say that.

When that person comes home for retiring, that that's a good activity to do together.

I think your team, they have the best idea.

Ground rules.

Not just for downsizing, but ground rules for there's somebody in the house all day long when you've been the stay-at-home mom and you know, this has been your job.

And now all of a sudden there's a colleague in your kitchen all the time.

You know, ground rules and you just establish the ground rules.

And you know, for us, I think what you said, we communicate.

- And you can take your time.

It took 20 years to accumulate all this stuff.

And I could go through it in a week.

That's not realistic, you know.

And not to borrow from sports theme, but y'all didn't build championship teams in one season.

It takes time and y'all are actually doing a really good job compared to a lot of my clients.

- We're grateful that you helped us.

- But for the first time ever, you don't have to worry about packing back up.

You can finally unpack.

- [Female Voice] Funding for Legacy List is provided by Wheaton Worldwide Moving.

Wheaton's number one goal is to help you, your loved ones and your belongings get to your new home quickly and safely.

You can find us at wheatonworldwide.com.

Wheaton Worldwide Moving.

We move your life.

- [Female Voice] FirstLight Home Care.

Committed to providing safe and compassionate home services for you and your family.

FirstLight believes personal relationships and engagement are as important as mobility, bathing and personal hygiene.

Details at firstlighthomecare.com.

- [Female Voice] The Mavins Group.

A downsizing real estate sales and move management company.

Committed to easing the emotional and physical demands of beginning a new stage of life.

The Mavins Group.

So much more than a move.

- Insure Longterm Care where we believe that aging at home, your friends and family is ever more possible for more people.

Learn more at insureltc.com.

- And by the Ruth Camp Campbell foundation.

♪ L-O-V-E ♪ All I want ♪ And all I ever think about is L-O-V-E ♪ ♪ Please come here to me ♪ Hold me close and don't let me go ♪ - Yeah, that's a Rose original.

- Yeah.

(both laughing) - [Male Voice] Visit mylegacylist.com to learn more about the tips, tools and professionals to help make your own big life move easier.

Learn more about this episode or submit your story to be featured on the show at mylegacylist.com.

(upbeat music ends) (outro theme music) (outro theme music)