18 May 2024, Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, Melbourne, Australia
Thanks very much. It's an honour and privilege to be here today to share some time and some thoughts about Corey. And it's one when he'd be looking down on this and be so proud. So proud of the number of people that are here, the turnout and see him. And he'd know I'd be a bit nervous up here and I can hear him saying, 'You got this, Gaze. Gaze. You got this.' And that's the way he was. He had that infectious personality, would light up the room, didn't matter where you were from or what you did, he had a personality that would embrace and would unite.
And for me to see that and learn about him as he went through his challenges, both as a player and a commentator. To see him, the way in which that he would light up a floor, MVP of the competition, the way in which he would antagonise his opponents, the fans, the bravado, the self-belief is something he was born with, and he was infectious in the way in which he extended that out to the larger community.
There's not anyone in this room that's been involved in basketball that hasn't felt that, and also hasn't been on perhaps the wrong side of it as well, because he spoke his mind! And he didn't mind sharing his thoughts. And for me, I can still remember growing up having a love and for Corey and myself and Leonard Copeland coaching the Sydney Kings and playing the Adelaide 36ers and going through, to having a tough one, losing the game, and going through the tape at the end of it and Corey commentating,. And boy, was that an experience.
It's tough when he says 'all the coaches and players should be fired! Get them out of here!' And then the next day you'd run him into him at the airport and he'd give you a hug and give you some love and explain that '! 've got some work to do! And I'm here to motivate you, to make you a better person, a better coach, and better players!'
That's the way he was. And he was so willing to share his thoughts. When he was commentating, it was always going to be a fun experience. You'd go into that to prepare for a game. I'd have my computer, I'd have my notes, I'd have the stats, and Corey would come in with a napkin! A napkin with a couple of notes on there. And I said, 'Corey, you're ready to go here, brother, because we got two and a half hours of TV to do!' And he said, 'Gaze, I got this!' It comes from here and it comes from here. That's the way he rolled. And I got to do that from the commentating booth, and I also got to do that on, he'd come in, Andy Maher and I do a radio show, and he'd come in every week, once a week to share his thoughts.
And when he'd come in there, it wasn't just about basketball that he wanted to talk about. He knew the game, but he loved to share his thoughts on life, on the experiences that he was going through. And this is ... Philly, this was a time before he'd met you, and he was the ultimate multitasker. You'd be sitting there and broadcasting either the commentating booth or doing it in the radio studio. He'd be in the room, he'd be talking, looking at his phone, and you'd think, is he with us? Is he concentrating on what we are doing? And we are having a chat. And out of the blue, he'd come in there with that loud, booming voice and bring that personality that he was renowned for. He'd also, like I said, want to share his time ... with life. And Philly, we were there when you first met and he brought you into the studios at SEN and off air, he came to Andy and I and he goes, 'Gaze, when do you know you found the right one?' A deep question when you're just in an ad break ready to go on the radio. And we talk about it. 'I said, wow, you just got to feel it in your heart.' And he goes, 'gee, I think I've found the right one.' And we are thinking that, well, this is an off air conversation. And then the light goes on and he wants to talk about when we found the right one! And this is a sports radio programme, so we are there and he's there, and he said, 'but you know what Gaze? We all got non-negotiables. We've all got those things in a partner that we can't deal with.' And we go, 'yeah, Corey, what is it? What's your number one non-negotiable?' He said, 'I can't have it when they got cracks on their heels. '
And 'Corey, I know you're talking about maybe the love of your life, the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. I reckon you might have to look past the cracked heels.' Philly, I know you don't have cracked heels because there's no way my man Corey was going to deal with the cracked heels! But that was the way Corey was. He was an open book. He wanted to share his life. He wanted to motivate, he wanted to inspire.
And you learn about the character of individuals when they're faced with the greatest test. Corey was faced with the ultimate test. And to see him, his body weathered, life draining out of him, skin and bones, and to see how he confronted that situation, was nothing short of his continued desire to inspire. He motivated. He wanted those around him to feel better. Even in those darkest, darkest times, he would say, 'I got this.' And I'm looking at him and saying, 'it's hard to believe, but I believe you, Corey', because he had a sense of positivity about his journey and what he wanted to achieve.
You saw in that video, what did he want to become. He wanted his daughter to say, 'there goes my dad'. He wanted his mom to say, 'there goes my son.' He achieved that, and his legacy will live on forever. Thank you very much.
