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The year in review: Influential people who died in 2023

Posted December 31, 2023 7:00 am

By BERNARD McGHEE

JANUARY

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Ken Block, 55. A motorsports icon known for his stunt driving and for co-founding the action sports apparel brand DC Shoes. Jan. 2. Snowmobiling accident.

FILE - Bobby Hull of the Chicago Blackhawks holds pucks denoting his 500th career goal at Chicago, Ill., night on Feb. 22, 1970. Hull, a Hall of Fame forward who helped the Blackhawks win the 1961 Stanley Cup Final, has died. He was 84. The Blackhawks and the NHL Alumni Association announced the death of the two-time NHL MVP on Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Fred Jewell, file) AP

Robbie Knievel, 60. An American stunt performer who set records with daredevil motorcycle jumps following in the tire tracks of his thrill-seeking father Evel Knievel. Jan. 13.

Chris Ford, 74. A member of the Boston Celtics 1981 championship team, a longtime NBA coach and the player credited with scoring the league's first 3-point basket. Jan. 17.

Billy Packer, 82. An Emmy award-winning college basketball broadcaster who covered 34 Final Fours for NBC and CBS. Jan. 26.

Bobby Hull, 84. A Hall of Fame forward who helped the Chicago Blackhawks win the 1961 Stanley Cup Final. Jan. 30.

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FEBRUARY

Tim McCarver, 81. The All-Star catcher and Hall of Fame broadcaster who during 60 years in baseball won two World Series titles with the St. Louis Cardinals and had a long run as one of the country's most recognized, incisive and talkative television commentators. Feb. 16.

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MARCH

Just Fontaine, 89. The French soccer great who scored a record 13 goals at the 1958 World Cup. March 1.

Bud Grant, 95. The stoic and demanding Hall of Fame coach who took the Minnesota Vikings and their mighty Purple People Eaters defense to four Super Bowls in eight years and lost all of them. March 11.

Dick Fosbury, 76. The lanky leaper who revamped the technical discipline of high jump and won an Olympic gold medal with his "Fosbury Flop." March 12.

FILE - New York Knicks NBA player Willis Reed is surrounded by basketballs in New York, May 14, 1970, where he received his award as the NBAs Most Valuable Player. Willis Reed, who dramatically emerged from the locker room minutes before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals to spark the New York Knicks to their first championship and create one of sports’ most enduring examples of playing through pain, died Tuesday, March 21, 2023. He was 80. Reed's death was announced by the National Basketball Retired Players Association, which confirmed it through his family. (AP Photo/Anthony Camerano, File) AP

Willis Reed, 80. He dramatically emerged from the locker room minutes before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals to spark the New York Knicks to their first championship and create one of sports' most enduring examples of playing through pain. March 21.

APRIL

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Larry "Gator" Rivers, 73. He helped integrate high school basketball in Georgia before playing for the Harlem Globetrotters and becoming a county commissioner in his native Savannah. April 29.

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MAY

Tori Bowie, 32. The sprinter who won three Olympic medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. May 2. Complications of childbirth.

Vida Blue, 73. A hard-throwing left-hander who became one of baseball's biggest draws in the early 1970s and helped lead the brash A's to three straight World Series titles before his career was derailed by drug problems. May 6.

Denny Crum, 86. He won two NCAA men's basketball championships and built Louisville into one of the 1980s' dominant programs during a Hall of Fame coaching career. May 9.

FILE - In this Nov. 14, 1965, file photo, Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown (32) carries the ball during an NFL football game against the New York Giants in Cleveland. Brown's extraordinary life as a football giant and activist will be celebrated as part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame weekend activities. The legendary running back died in May at age 87. (AP Photo/File) AP

Jim Brown, 87. The pro football Hall of Famer was an unstoppable running back who retired at the peak of his career to become an actor as well as a prominent civil rights advocate during the 1960s. May 18.

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JUNE

The Iron Sheik, 81. A former pro wrestler who relished playing a burly, bombastic villain in 1980s battles with some of the sport's biggest stars and later became a popular Twitter personality. June 7.

FILE - Colorado Rockies television color analyst George Frazier looks on during his retirement ceremony before the Rockies host the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 25, 2015, in Denver. Oklahoma has announced that former pitcher George Frazier has died at age 68. Frazier played for Oklahoma on College World Series teams in 1975 and 1976, and played parts of 10 Major League Baseball seasons with five clubs. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) AP

George Frazier, 68. The former pitcher was a World Series champion who had a nearly three-decade run as a television broadcaster. June 19.

H. Lee Sarokin, 94. The federal judge who freed boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter and in a landmark case famously said tobacco companies engaged in a "vast" conspiracy to conceal the dangers of smoking. June 20.

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JULY

John Berylson, 70. An American businessman known for his enthusiastic ownership of the English soccer team Millwall. July 4. Car crash.

Mikala Jones, 44. A Hawaii surfer known for shooting awe-inspiring photos and videos from the inside of massive, curling waves. July 9. Surfing accident.

AUGUST

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FILE - Former executive Gil Brandt poses with his Pro Football Hall of Fame bust during inductions Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019, in Canton, Ohio. Gil Brandt, overshadowed by coach Tom Landry and general manager Tex Schramm as part of the trio that built the Dallas Cowboys into “America’s Team” in the 1970s, has died. He was 91. The Pro Football Hall of Fame said Brandt died Thursday morning, Aug. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane, File) AP

Gil Brandt, 91. The Pro Football Hall of Fame member was the player personnel director alongside the stoic, fedora-wearing coach Tom Landry and media-savvy general manager Tex Schramm as part of the trio that built the Dallas Cowboys into "America's Team" in the 1970s. Aug. 31.

SEPTEMBER

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Roy Kidd, 91. He coached Eastern Kentucky to two NCAA Division I-AA football championships in a Hall of Fame career. Sept. 12.

OCTOBER

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Tim Wakefield, 57. The knuckleballing workhorse of the Red Sox pitching staff who bounced back after giving up a season-ending home run to the Yankees in the 2003 playoffs to help Boston win its curse-busting World Series title the following year. Oct. 1.

FILE - Dick Butkus, former Illinois and Chicago Bears linebacker, waves during a timeout as the first inductee of the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame, during Illinois' NCAA college football game against Minnesota, Oct. 29, 2016, at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill. Butkus, a fearsome middle linebacker for the Bears, has died, the team announced Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. He was 80. According to a statement released by the team, Butkus' family confirmed that he died in his sleep overnight at his home in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Bradley Leeb, File) AP

Dick Butkus, 80. A Hall of Fame middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears whose speed and ferocity set the standards for the position in the modern era. Oct. 5.

Bobby Charlton, 86. An English soccer icon who survived a plane crash that decimated a Manchester United team destined for greatness to become the heartbeat of his country's 1966 World Cup triumph. Oct. 21.

Bishan Bedi, 77. The India cricket great whose dazzling left-arm spin claimed 266 test wickets. Oct. 23.

NOVEMBER

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Bob Knight, 83. The brilliant and combustible coach who won three NCAA titles at Indiana and for years was the scowling face of college basketball. Nov. 1.

FILE - Texas Tech coach Bob Knight, left, argues a call with an NCAA official during a basketball game against Texas A&M in Lubbock, Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008. Knight earned his 900th career win in the 68-53 win over Texas A&M. Bob Knight, the brilliant and combustible coach who won three NCAA titles at Indiana and for years was the scowling face of college basketball has died. He was 83. Knight's family made the announcement on social media Wednesday evening, Nov. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File) AP

Terry R. Taylor, 71. In two trailblazing decades as the first female sports editor of The Associated Press, she transformed the news agency's emphasis into multilayered coverage of rigorous reporting, entertaining enterprise and edgy analysis. Nov. 14.

Bobby Ussery, 88. A Hall of Fame jockey who won the 1967 Kentucky Derby and then crossed the finish line first in the 1968 edition only to be disqualified days later. Nov. 16.

Terry Venables, 80. A charismatic and tactically innovative English soccer coach who led his national team to the European Championship semifinals in 1996 after winning trophies at club level with Barcelona and Tottenham. Nov. 25.

DECEMBER

FILE - Former NBA star George McGinnis speaks during his enshrinement into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday, Sept. 8, 2017, in Springfield, Mass. McGinnis, a Hall of Fame forward who was a two-time ABA champion and three-time All-Star in the NBA and ABA, died Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023 He was 73. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, File) AP

George McGinnis, 73. A Hall of Fame forward who was a two-time ABA champion and three-time All-Star in the NBA and ABA. Dec. 14.

Herb Kohl, 88. A former Democratic U.S. senator from Wisconsin and former owner of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks. Dec. 27.

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