We’ve been given wonderful memories this summer of the incredible life Dean Smith lived.

The Carolina basketball coach was a believer in doing things right long before he won his first championship of any kind, or soared to national prominence. He took hold of a program at the young age of 30, in the face of embarrassing scandal and NCAA rules violations, and lifted it to the envy of all.

When the best coaches regardless of level or sport were chosen for the 20th century, Smith was right there with Bear Bryant, Vince Lombardi, John McGraw, John Wooden, Red Auerbach and George Halas. And rightly so.

He stands out among the group when considering his impact outside of the sport. He helped integrate a popular Chapel Hill restaurant in 1964, and Carolina athletics two years later when he brought in Charlie Scott on scholarship. He was politically active throughout his life, arguably the state’s most prominent Democrat. His was a strong voice, whether talking basketball or the death penalty, nuclear weapons, the war in Iraq or gay rights.

Like the old E.F. Hutton commercial, when Dean Smith talked people listened.

Smith’s name has popped up a few times this summer, in part because of changes in society and also tied to basketball.

Vince Carter, a high school sensation recruited by Smith from Daytona Beach, played three years at Carolina and was the fifth overall pick of the 1998 draft. When he retired from the NBA last month after 22 years with eight teams, the world’s premier basketball league was left with no players coached by Dean Smith.

Hard to imagine.

From Oct. 16, 1965, until March 11 of this year, the NBA had always had at least one — and usually many — of his players. That 55-year span went from Billy Cunningham stepping on the floor for the Philadelphia 76ers through Carter playing just another regular season game for the Atlanta Hawks before COVID-19 brought everything to a halt.

Figuring out who might be second to that 55, and how far back, is somebody else’s guess.

“He’s taught a lot of us similar traits and we’ve accepted that and we’ve moved on as players and people,” Michael Jordan once said. “That’s something we treasure more so than maybe our basketball experience — the things that we learned away from the game.”

The long list of accolades for Smith’s time on the Tar Heels’ sideline are great and noteworthy in their own arena, but to say they are his biggest accomplishment would be a mistake.

His core beliefs were unwavering no matter the demands of what was popular in society. Even those that didn’t agree with his views could never argue with his integrity. It was impeccable.

“Dean set the standard for basketball — not just college basketball — that everyone is still trying to reach,” Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski said. “He demanded that his teams play as one. And what he got in return from all these guys who played for him was the intense loyalty that they feel toward him. And that’s something I’ve admired since I started coaching.”

Roy Williams speaks often of cherished time in Smith’s program. He made his own mark as a head coach at Smith’s alma mater, Kansas, before returning home to his first love. He’s always described Carolina basketball under Smith as a program, not a team.

“And when you have a program,” he said, “you’re concerned about the kids’ entire lives, their entire existence … and what they’re going to do after they leave you and what kind of effect you can have on them as they mature.”

Perhaps the late UNC Chancellor William Aycock had such an inkling in 1961, when Frank McGuire had to be let go and Smith was a young assistant on his staff. It was four years after Carolina had stunned everyone by winning a pair of triple-overtime games in the semifinals and finals of the 23-team NCAA Tournament, beating Michigan State in the former, then Wilt Chamberlain and Kansas in the latter.

The nation was entering a decade of history few could imagine — assassinations, the Civil Rights Act, even a man walking on the moon just to name a little amid the backdrop of fear tied to the Cold War with the Soviet Union.

In the middle of it came an unimaginable streak — Cunningham to Carter, a Dean Smith player always in the NBA.

The basketball streak may have ended. The lessons the coach taught us have not.

Alan Wooten can be reached at 910-247-9132 or awooten@bladenjournal.com. Twitter: @alanwooten19.