As the basketball season nears a close, many coaches and senior athletes are preparing to say farewell to each other
Some of those players may have played for that coach for as many as six or more years, but few coaches and players will have the bittersweet farewell that Eddie and Sawyer Lamb will share next week as they take the court for the final time as coach and player.
Since the seventh grade, Sawyer has played for Eddie when he took the court in junior high basketball for Jessieville.
"It's a blessing," Eddie said. "When I'm coaching the game, I never think of him as a son; I just think of him as one of our kids playing. I just coach him as hard as I coach any kid.
"At the end of the day, when it's over, you're like, 'Man, that was kind of neat. I got to coach our team, and I was also able to coach my son.'"
"It's kind of hard because it's hard to take everything he says because I also live with him," Sawyer said. "Then it's also fun to have him on the sideline with me all the time and hearing stuff from him and being with him all the time.
"I'd just say it's kind of bittersweet, but I've enjoyed it a lot. I wouldn't trade it for the world or anything. It has been hard sometimes."
Basketball has always been a big part of life for the Lamb family. Where many families talk about football on Thanksgiving, discussions for this family rotate around the iron rim and hardwood floors.
When the younger Lamb showed interest at a young age, it was a relief for Eddie.
"I'd be lying to you if I didn't say I'm glad he did," he said. "My family's big into basketball. I've got cousins that coach and family that loves the game.
"My grandmother was Ashley County Hall of Fame for basketball. It's just a big deal at our house at Thanksgiving -- that's what you talk about."
Having coached the game for 26 years, the elder Lamb anticipated being able to coach his son, but he avoided coaching him in peewee basketball "because I didn't want (him) to have to hear my voice for 10 years."
Sawyer joined the junior high team as a seventh-grader at Jessieville with his father as his coach.
"I just really wanted to watch him going up to that point," Eddie said. "He was always easy. He put a lot of time in the game.
"I can remember him as a young kid, him outside practicing until dark all the time. I knew then he was going to be a good enough player to play the game. It's actually really fun."
The pair have had memorable moments to share, including Eddie's 500th win as a high school coach.
"Him making the winning shot on the 500th game was pretty cool," Eddie said, referring to the Rams' 51-50 win over Huntsville on Dec. 5. "You don't think about it until it's two or three months later after the fact, but obviously I've coached a lot of games to get to that point.
"It's a great milestone for our family, and for him to be a part of it like that, it was a special moment this year that we got to share."
"After I hit (the 3-pointer) and they said it (was his 500th win), it was pretty awesome," Sawyer admitted. "It was almost like it was destined to be, kind of. It's kind of crazy how it happened, but it was pretty cool."
While Eddie admits he has tried to treat him no different than any other player, Sawyer has had some decent perks thanks to living with the coach as the family has always had access to a gym.
"I think that's his getaway sometimes," Eddie said. "'Dad, I'm going to go to the gym and shoot for two hours.' Have I rebounded for him? Sure. There's times I'll come up here and take some special time with him.
"Of course, I still like to play. Me and Sawyer, every once in a while, will play some pick-up ball with each other. Now I'm 50, and he's 18, but we still have had some great times together over the years, us messing around with the basketball together."
Sawyer said his father was stricter on him than the other players.
"Really, whenever I was younger, he was on me a little bit more," he said. "He would make sure he got onto me more because I was younger and I was playing for him, so that he would set an example. As I've gotten older, especially my senior year, he's been really chilled out with me, just letting me play and stuff.
"He expects me to be a leader and that kind of stuff. So I'd say I'm treated different, but not as in it's easier. It's more in the fact that the standard is kind of higher."
Sawyer said their bond has been built on basketball since he was young.
"I rode the bus with him since I was 5 years old," he said. "Everything we've always done has been a lot to do with basketball, so it will definitely be weird not coming to practice and practicing with him and stuff like that. Our bond is going to be a lot different without basketball.
"We've maybe argued two or three times that's not basketball-related. Everything else has been basketball-related. Our relationship in that regard will be a whole lot easier, after games and stuff. That's one thing I won't miss."
Eddie said practices meant 12 guaranteed hours per week he could spend with his son.
"That's 12 hours a week I get to spend with Sawyer, that if he didn't play basketball, I'd still be up here with these kids, and I'd be away from him," Eddie said. "I'm going to miss those 12 hours.
"You look at it that way, that's a lot of time I get to spend with these kids. ... I'm going to miss that interaction with him, messing with him in practice, giving him a hard time or whatever. I won't have that time any more."
Sawyer said that the biggest thing he will miss is getting to make his father proud on the court.
"Obviously, I'm going to mess up, but whenever I do do well, (I love) how proud and happy he gets about everything," he said. "Also, he hasn't missed anything with basketball or anything, so he's been there with me through everything with basketball all my life."
One such moment was when he was a seventh-grader, playing in a championship game of a junior high tournament.
"We were in the championship game of a tournament, and I went down and made an and-one," Sawyer said. "I looked over there, and he was yelling. I went over there, and he grabbed me and hugged me, right during the middle of the game. That one stands out a lot."
"Time goes by so fast," Eddie said. "It just seems like yesterday I started coaching him. It's going to be pretty hard, that last game and seeing him walk off the floor, but there's also a side of me that understands that Sawyer is ready to get to college.
"He's mature in that fact. He's got some big plans beyond basketball, beyond high school basketball. At the same time, as bad as we don't want to see it to end, there'll be something else good happen that I can watch him do."
Lakeside (3-19, 0-11 5A-South) will end its season on Tuesday at Hot Springs (21-4, 9-2). Conferences in Class 5A do not have league tournaments in the latest reclassification by the Arkansas Activities Association, leaving the Rams without a postseason opportunity.
"I loved going to the state tournament, and I'd love to be going to it now, but the level of competition is up so much," Sawyer said. "I love that part of it. Even though we weren't winning as much, every game in that conference, you have to go out and play hard. There's no off nights.
"We would love to win more this year and be more successful. I love our team. We have good chemistry and everything; we just haven't been able to win as much this year. I'd love to be in the state tournament, obviously, but I wouldn't say it's the end of the world."
"What he's established here at Lakeside, the biggest thing he's done for our program because we know we haven't got as many wins as we'd like, but kids love watching Sawyer play," Eddie explained.
"The young kids come to watch him. They watch him in football; they watch him in basketball. It's like I told Sawyer, 'You're building young kids' future because they ... want to be like (you).' That's what Sawyer has taken the role of around here as that figure on campus that's helped our football program, our basketball program, any program because the young kids like him. They enjoy watching him."
The penultimate game of the Rams' season and Sawyer's high school career will be at home on Friday for senior night against J.A. Fair (9-13, 4-7).
Sports on 02/13/2019