I'm recording this during the final hour of 2020, a year, unlike any other.

Before this year, if you had said, hey, you're going to be working until right before the

ball drops on New Year's Eve, I'd say, man, that's a bummer.

This time around, I'm just thankful to be working.

I'm thankful to have basketball to call and to cover and to podcast about.

I'm thankful that my family and I are healthy.

The reality is we've lost so much in 2020. And the basketball world suffered one last swift

kick in the stomach earlier this week with the death of Donnie Kirksey. Mr. Kirksey was a mentor

for so many, including Joanne Howard. Later in this episode, you'll hear from Coach Howard about a man who inspired him, who pushed him, who supported him back when he was a high schooler to when he became an NBA champion, and now, as he's taken over as the head coach of his alma mater.

Juan spoke to Mr. Kirksey the night before he passed, and unfortunately, like so many,

he had to do so over the internet and not in person.

As we'll hear from Coach Howard, the team went out and won this one for a man who has

given so much to the game of basketball and, more importantly, to those who play the the game and who should have been with us

longer than he was. As we flip the page to 2021, and don't get me wrong, I mean, I'm as

excited as anybody about doing that. I do hope we remember 2020. We remember those who we

lost in this calendar year. Remember the times we missed out on.

Remember the things that we in the past had taken for granted. And remember the moments,

the people that helped us get through the tough times. For me, I know that getting those two

hours of normalish of Michigan basketball has surely helped eight times in 2020, and they'll help as we begin 2021.

And I'll tell you what, after this tough news this week with Mr. Kirksie passing away, this eighth game and an eighth win for Michigan men's basketball probably helped

more than the first seven. We will break it all down. We'll hear from Joanne Howland, from

Mike Smith, from Terry Mills, right here on this episode of Defend the Block. We're talking Michigan

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