Joe Dawson can’t help but see flashes of himself when he watches his son, Shawn, soar for a dunk or leap for a rebound. The elder Dawson sees the same athletic ability he had, the kind that propelled him to play professional basketball all over Europe — mostly as a forward, despite his 6-foot-5 frame — until he was 48 years old.
His career spanned from 1985-2008, with stops in France, Greece and Italy until he settled in Israel, a country he said he loved because “it was almost like America.”
“I played a two guard, but because I jump well, I had a lot of back-to-the-basket moves and became a three,” said Joe, who grew up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.