I'm giving myself a makeup call on my tribute to @SekouSmithNBA to get it right. We met in 2002 when I was covering the @Pacers for @indystar and he was hired to help with the coverage. He was the kind of guy you immediately like, no break-in period required, and ...

we never had a bad moment. But then if you couldn't get along with Sekou the problem was yours. We shared many rides to games and practices, and many laughs and complaints. We shared a lot of memorable moments as well. That infamous game at the Palace of Auburn Hills in ...

November of 2004 stands out, but there were plenty of others. He had his finger on the pulse of whatever was going on, to the point of occasional prognostication. There was the time, for example, when Dallas was playing in Indy and Shawn Bradley was about to check into a game ...

Sekou said something like, "Oh, no. Something always goes wrong when this guy plays, he's so awkward." Sure enough, it wasn't long before Bradley chased after a loose ball toward the scorer's table and landed on the raised lid of my laptop, crushing it. Needless to say, he ...

wrote the game story that night. He went on to prove his versatility in all media forms, but his greatest talent was his ability to make friends wherever he turned. He was a pleasure to work with, whether it was trying to compile a deadline story following the brawl or ...

sharing a leisurely trip home from training camp in Cincinnati. The NBA beat is a grind, but it's a lot of fun when you're with the right people. @SekouSmithNBA was the right person to be with no matter where you were.