Sidney Green accomplished many things in his life. He achieved what many basketball players dreamed of doing: getting drafted into the National Basketball Association in 1983.

Before his retirement in 1993, Green played with teams like the Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, San Antonio Spurs, and Charlotte Hornets.

Green then became a head coach in 1995 and coached Southhampton College and the University of North Florida until he joined the FAU men’s basketball team from 1999 to 2005. His coaching and motivation helped the FAU program reach the NCAA tournament for the first and only time in 2002.

Now, Green is fulfilling another goal: getting his body back up to speed as he recovers from a stroke.

Green suffered a stroke in 2017, which caused right-sided hemiplegia — paralysis on the right side of his body excluding his face — and left him speech-impaired. His friend Dave Revzin assisted him with his answers.

Revzin explained the thoughts that ran through Green’s head when the stroke occurred.

“He said that his mindset is that he’s going to beat it,” Revzin said. “That’s the only thought he allowed in his head, that he’s gonna get better from this one step at a time.”

Revzin wanted to help Green through the rehab process, so he reached out to physical therapist Doug Lancaster in late 2021.

“They were looking for outside-the-box thinking for what to do because [Green] had gone through rehab and all that other stuff, and he had kind of plateaued so [Revzin] was thinking we can get this guy doing more than what he’s doing,” Lancaster said.

A few months after meeting Lancaster, Green saw major progress compared to the rehab he had in years prior. By getting in and out of his wheelchair multiple times, maintaining his balance while standing on his right leg, lifting 10-pound weights with his right arm, and constant stretching alongside other workouts, he can now stand on his own power more frequently.

“That’s why he’s making these leaps and bounds. There’s no way I would be improving on the curl machine the way he does,” Revzin said. “He’s a world-class athlete. He’s got the finances to be in this fancy-ass gym that we have all the equipment… [And] he’s got a tremendous following here in the support group, seeing the improvements he’s making now.”

Lancaster said by dedicating his time to helping Green, it’s given him more faith in mankind, that they can make a difference with an act of compassion and caring.

“It just comes back to human nature. You can make a big difference in one person’s life with the skillset that you have if you just show compassion and caring,” Lancaster said. “It makes me feel really good about the fact that he went from five years not making much progress, being stuck in the wheelchair, to just words of encouragement and some advice [that] his life has gotten 50% easier and better.”

Revzin said that what allowed Green to persevere through the stroke was how he taught people as a former coach to be great on and off the court as it translates to everything they do in their lives.

“He’s told this to so many people so many times and influenced so many lives, that he would feel he would be letting everybody down if he didn’t walk his own walk and talk his own talk,” Revzin said. “He perseveres by knowing that he doesn’t want to let people down by being a quitter. He’s gonna listen to his own coaching words and persevere.”

Family and friends helped Green throughout his recovery, so he is fully confident they will help him if he needs them.

“There’s an army of people that are there to help with whatever he needs,” Revzin said. “Luckily, he’s pretty self-sufficient so he doesn’t do a lot of asking, but he knows if he had to, there are people there for him.”

Sidney’s wife, DeDe Green, said his attitude and outlook are much more positive; he’s smiling more, he’s joking more, he’s playing with his grandkids more, and he’s communicating.

“I can really see the improvement because mainly I deal with him, but the standing, getting up and down, moving himself without the gate belt, telling me to wait because he can do it on his own, and pressing me with his arm muscles… he shows off with me a little bit,” DeDe said. “I can really see the improvement in the right side— that’s the flaccid side— how much bigger the leg is getting, compared to the left side. He’s getting his independence back.”

DeDe even mentioned how their son, Taurean Green, tells Sidney to keep going and work hard. Like his father, Taurean played in the NBA for two seasons.

“He uses the same advice that Sidney used to give him when he played basketball. Taurean gives it back to [him] now to keep him motivated. The same sayings, the same everything. ‘Dude, you’ve gotta push, you’ve gotta keep going! You’ve gotta push it! You’ve gotta push it!’ Taurean is really good with that, motivating him and telling him to keep going,” DeDe said.

With what he went through, Revzin said Sidney feels freer as he appreciates everything he has in life more than before.

“It’s given him this perspective on life I can relate to… And I can recognize that the time and the years are more precious now,” Revzin said. “We can appreciate those moments that may not be repeated.”

When asked if she ever had any hesitations or worries about Sidney making his recovery, Dede said she had none at all.

“I know he can do it. Even if he couldn’t, he’d say he could anyway. He never says [he can’t],” Dede said.

This story was originally published on University Press on May 25, 2022.