‘Some things are bigger than basketball’: Glover's special gift to Graham Lancaster in New Year's Eve game

To the Illawarra, Graham Lancaster is known as a selfless contributor to the community, a respected lawyer and leader of The Illawarra Connection.

To his family, he is a passionate and supportive father and husband.

To basketball fans across the nation, those outside his beloved Illawarra Hawks, they know him as “the bloke with the horns at Hawks games”.

To South East Melbourne Phoenix’s Wollongong-raised and two-time NBL championship guard Angus Glover, what Graham Lancaster means to him runs deep.

“Cathy [Graham’s wife] and Graham are pretty much family. I claim them as my second mum and dad, really,” Glover said.

“We’ve been through a lot and they’re always reaching out to check in. So yeah, they mean a lot to me.”

The Glover and Lancaster families are as close as can be. Angus’s parents Al and Mandy are often by the Lancasters’ side.

And when Angus exchanges vows with his long-term partner Kiera Rowe in a Yarra Valley vineyard in April, he will do so with his best man Patty Lancaster (Graham and Cathy’s son) by his side.

So when Graham Lancaster revealed via Region Illawarra earlier this year that he had been diagnosed with fatal motor neurone disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Glover was as devastated as anyone.

“Mum rang me a couple of days before it came out, in a random phone call … it actually hit me hard,” he said.

“I remember checking in on Patty to make sure he was all right.”

Soon after that moment, Glover decided to make a special dedication to his “second dad” when his Phoenix play Graham’s beloved Illawarra Hawks at the WIN Entertainment Centre on New Year’s Eve.

Glover will take the court in a pair of red-highlighted Nike shoes, red being the colour associated with ALS, signed by every player from both teams.

At the end of the game, he will present the shoes to Graham, a fanatical collector of sporting and other memorabilia.

“To a lot of people it might not seem like much, but if you know Graham you know it will mean a lot,” Glover said.

He not only hopes the gesture will acknowledge what Graham means to him, but also raise awareness of his condition and of Graham’s chosen charitable cause relating to MND.

Graham has been directing fundraising for the Motor Neurone Disease Research Fund at the University of Wollongong, supporting the Yerbury Lab in honour of the late former Hawks player and professor Justin Yerbury AM.

Justin became one of the leading researchers into MND before succumbing to the disease himself in July last year.

“The Hawks guys all know and see what Graham gives to the community, how much he has supported them … this is bigger than basketball,” Glover said.

“I think it will put a smile on his face.”

While it’s assumed the Glover-Lancaster family relationship was forged through shared junior basketball trips, Angus and Patty first connected in Year 3 as Keiraville Public School students.

The years of basketball tournaments and games in later years would strengthen the bonds and, when the Illawarra Hawks went to Melbourne earlier this season, the Lancaster family was there to support Angus as much as they were the Hawks. Well, maybe. Graham still wore his Hawks shirt and horns.

“It was awesome to see them,” Angus said.

“I haven’t really had time to get back home to Wollongong and catch up with everyone much.

“The game is going to be great; it will be packed in the Illawarra for New Year’s Eve as it always is. The fact I can personally honour Graham as a part of the night will be special.”

So does that mean the former Illawarra Hawk intends to take it easy on his old side?

“I won’t be gifting Graham a Hawks win, that’s for sure,” Angus laughed.

“As close as he is to me and my family, Graham will still be wanting the Hawks to win, but I’m sure he’d want me to play well and I know the Phoenix are his second team.

“I still expect him to be chirping all game and frankly, I’d be disappointed if he didn’t.”

Yep. Some things are bigger than basketball.

You can click here to donate to the UOW’s Motor Neurone Disease Fund.

The Phoenix and the Hawks go head-to-head at the WIN Entertainment Centre on Tuesday, 31 December, with tip-off at 5:30 pm. Tickets are available via Ticketmaster.