INDIANAPOLIS — Downtown Indianapolis is getting ready for the NBA All-Star Game.
It's a weekend where more than 100,000 visitors are expected to flood the city, with plenty of events for fans to enjoy.
"You could not talk about Indiana history without talking the game of basketball," history buff Sampson Levingston said.
Levingston will lead people on his newest Hoosier Historia Moments tours, showing decades of Indiana history and Indiana basketball.
The tour starts at Bicentennial Plaza, next to Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
"We got Wes Montgomery behind me. We got Kurt Vonnegut. Madam CJ Walker. Benjamin Harrison, so we have a lot of influential Hoosiers that play a part of this story as well," Levingston said.
Levingston's inspiration comes from the 1955 Crispus Attucks basketball team — the nation's first all-Black team to win a state high school athletic championship.
He was even sporting his Crispus Attucks-inspired Converse shoes during our tour.
"Oscar Robertson, triple-double king himself, does that right here in Indianapolis at Hinkle Fieldhouse, and you go by these things every day," Livingston said. "You hear about these people all the time, and then to understand that it happened in your city and you have the potential to make impacts like that, I think it's important for us to know that we're a city that comes from somewhere and that can lead us to somewhere as well."
The tour will then proceed from Gainbridge Fieldhouse to Georgia Street.
"I am excited to kind of incorporate Indy's infamous skywalks, right. People know all about this when they have their conventions," Levingston said.
People will also notice unique street signs. Some are named after NBA teams like Jazz Crossing or Trail Blazers Pass.
"No matter when you come to Indianapolis, you gotta understand how embedded basketball is," Levingston said.
Especially with the statue of John Wooden.
"(He) played high school basketball at Martinsville, then he goes on to play basketball at Purdue. He then goes on to coach college basketball at Indiana State! Go Sycamores! I got on my letter jacket! I was a football player, though, but I got a letter jacket," Levingston said.
During his time at Indiana State, Wooden helped integrate college basketball.
"There's a guy named Clarence Walker that he coached, Black guy that he wanted to make sure could play in postseason tournaments. John Wooden also, not only from Indiana, but also from the right side of history, which I think is important," Levingston said.
The bronze statue depicts Wooden in a crouching position coaching, surrounded by five basketball players' legs — each wearing basketball shoes that represent Wooden's career and shoes worn through the decades.
- 1930: The year Wooden received his first All-American honor as a player at Purdue.
- 1946: The year he began his coaching career at the Indiana Teacher's College (now Indiana State University).
- 1964: The year he won his first NCAA championship and was named Coach of the Year at UCLA.
- 1975: His last of year coaching and his 10th and final NCAA championship.
- Beyond: A shoe from today, indicating his ongoing legacy.
"There's so much stuff I can point out on these tours. It will also be interesting to see what people notice," Levingston said.
Indy All-Star Walk n' Talk tours will be held February 16-18 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., starting at 6 W. Washington St. in downtown Indianapolis.
For tickets, click here.