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The Steve Patterson Award for Excellence in Sports Philanthropy
About Steve Patterson
VIDEO: A Tribute to Steve Patterson...
Steve Patterson was widely known as
a center on three national championship basketball teams at UCLA. He later
played in the NBA 
and coached at Arizona
State University.
As a player and a coach, Steve was committed to serving and mentoring those
around him. Steve developed Patterson
Sports Ventures, linking players, teams and sports foundations with important
social causes. Steve continued to
develop his vision for and devotion to improving the lives of others,
especially the most vulnerable members of society, as a coach and mentor,
through his career in sports marketing and communications, and as a father and
husband. Steve had a knack for bringing
people together, as well as an unwavering faith in the goodness and
potential of every person he met. His warmth, convictions, and genuine love of
people, combined with uncanny acumen in marketing and communications, were key
ingredients to forging diverse and effective partnerships that brought together
business, sports and community interests to improve the lives of others. In
helping to organize the Maricopa County (Arizona) Council on Youth Sports and
Physical Activity— a project close to his heart and home—Steve saw a way to
bring the fun and passion back to youth sports while helping to promote
lifelong healthy habits among young people.
Steve worked with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Sports Philanthropy Project to leverage the power of sports for important social causes. Steve's leadership was integral to the success of the sports outreach effort for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Cover the Uninsured Week Campaign and a variety of other initiatives.
In addition to his works in the community, Steve always found time to coach. According to his wife, Carlette, coaching was Steve’s true calling. He viewed coaching as a way to connect with young people and help them achieve their potential—not just in sports, but in life. A former coaching colleague from ASU wrote:
“One time one of our best players came to the bus without any (school) books.
Steve told him that he couldn't get on the bus. The young man hurriedly went to his off-campus apartment and somehow caught up to the team at the airport. The message was clear. Coach Patterson wanted the best for all his players. Basketball didn't have to be a part of their lives for their lives to be the best they could be.”
Steve spent countless hours volunteering to coach at all levels—from professionals to kids through Boys & Girls clubs. When his daughter was 12, he coached her girls’ team.
The team name said it all: “Agape,” from a Greek word meaning “unconditional love.”
The phrase best sums up Steve’s love for coaching and for people.
As Steve himself put it:
“I was fortunate that I was able to be a successful college athlete and professional athlete and to coach at the college ranks. And I have had a great deal of success. I have been blessed. It certainly is not through my own efforts. I have had great help and support and great mentors. But at the same time, ultimately I have found that giving something back and being involved in a greater cause is really the most satisfying thing you can do and it’s better than money. And it’s long lasting, and so that it’s not that there aren’t all kinds of other markers for success out there, wins and losses and dollars in your bank account. But ultimately at the end of the day it’s really what you do to help others that matters. So, it’s a primary motivation for me. And that kind of vision if articulated properly draws people to it. It attracts people. Because people are drawn to a big vision and people are drawn to the whole notion and the whole concept of helping others."
Steve believed in a powerful vision of altruism, that, when articulated properly, draws people to it. And when that happens, people strive to make a difference by serving others for a greater good. He was joined in that vision by Carlette and their five children: John, Brent, Amanda, Sara and Makena.
Steve died on July 28, 2004, of cancer. He was 56. In recognition of the strong contribution he has made in improving the lives of others, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Sports Philanthropy Project established The Steve Patterson Sports Philanthropy Award in 2004.
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