He scored 60 points in a high school basketball game, was an ILH player of the year in both football and basketball, went to a powerhouse college football program, started six years with the Kansas City Chiefs, missed out on winning a Super Bowl ring by choosing to go to law school instead, became a lawyer, went into private practice and was the chairman of the Hawaii Labor Relations Board before retiring.

All that qualifies as having a wonderful life.

But what tugged at the heart of Jim Nicholson most of all was a recent phone call.

“It was unexpected. When Jack Thompson called me it brought me to tears thinking of my mom & how proud and honored I am to be able represent the Samoan side of my family,” Nicholson said in an email.

Nicholson, who is three-eighths Samoan, will be inducted in the Polynesian Hall of Fame next month along with the rest of the Class of 2025 — Chris Kemoeatu, two-time Super Bowl champion with the Steelers, and Kalani Sitake, the current BYU coach.

“Everything that Jimmy receives, he deserves. He earned it. He worked it,” said Saint Louis School teammate and childhood friend Buddy Los Banos, a former star quarterback who runs a private practice as a physical therapist in Kahuku.

Injuries, subsequent surgeries, joint replacements and other ailments have taken a toll on Nicholson, 75, but his feats shouldn’t be overlooked or forgotten, but rather appreciated and retold.

Called “Big Nic” by NFL Hall of Famer Dan Fouts — he was 6 feet 7 and 245 pounds with a chiseled jawline in high school — Nicholson experienced a storied athletic career from high school to the pros.

Nicholson grew up in Palolo and “wanted to be a (Kaimuki) Bulldog growing up. I went to all their games. … Harry Knell, I remember him. He was my idol. He was a tight end.”

But Kaimuki’s loss was Saint Louis’ gain.

As a sophomore with the Crusaders in 1966, he was named the outstanding player on the ILH All-Star basketball team.

That season, he scored 60 points in a 102-36 win over Mid-Pacific — and not a point came via a dunk as was reported back in a non-byline newspaper article in 1966.

Nicholson said he didn’t do any jamming. “I had a left hook shot that was off the glass,” he said.

“He didn’t dunk,” said Los Banos, who said he was at the game. “It was a testimony to his ability to have a nice turnaround jumper. He had the left hook (shot), but he had the turnaround jumper and all those little things.”

Nicholson credited Given Goo with teaching him the game of basketball.

“I didn’t play basketball or football or anything” before ninth grade, Nicholson said.

“Given Goo, he was the one that taught me how to play basketball. Every Sunday, we’d spend the whole morning in the gym.”

Goo taught Nicholson to maneuver his large frame deep into the low post and get off a left-handed hook (he’s left-handed), like Lew Alcindor of UCLA.

(The NCAA banned dunking after Alcindor’s sophomore year from 1967 to 1976.)

“Mine was off the glass. He did his everywhere,” Nicholson said of the player who would change his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Nicholson would also help Saint Louis become the first school to win three consecutive state basketball titles (1966-68).

The school record has been matched by this era’s Crusaders, who likewise are led by a two-sport athlete in Pupu Sepulona.

On the football field, Nicholson eventually settled at tight end and named the ILH All-Star outstanding player as an end in 1968.

“He was the go-to,” Los Banos said. “He wasn’t a big rah-rah guy. He was like, hey, strap it up and let’s get it on, man. That’s how he was.”

Once Nicholson left for college, injuries happened, which would affect him in his football afterlife.

Nicholson said he chose Michigan State because the Spartans won the national championship in 1966 and because legendary Farrington running back Bob Apisa was a star there. He said he also was interested in majoring in hotel and restaurant management and “Michigan State had the second best program next to Cornell.”

But his athletic career had an unfortunate start.

“In college, first game, I started at tight end, (I) blew out my knee. Following year, blew out my back,” Nicholson said.

He said he lost a lot of his athletic ability because of those injuries and even thought of moving on from football, if not for MSU offensive line coach Joe Carruthers.

Carruthers “worked with me in becoming a football player again,” and Nicholson ended up becoming an All-Big Ten second-team player as an offensive lineman in 1972.

Even with the injuries, Nicholson got drafted by the Rams in the ninth round in 1973. He eventually was traded to the Chiefs, where he started for six years playing next to NFL legends such as Len Dawson (whom he roomed with at one time), Bobby Bell, Buck Buchanon, Emmitt Thomas, Jan Stenerud, Curly Cup, Willie Lanier, etc.

Nicholson said he was mentored by offensive tackle Dave Hill (a member of the Chiefs Hall of Honor) while with the Chiefs.

“I owe him everything,” Nicholson said.

He was later traded to the Chargers in 1980, got injured again, and then picked up by the 49ers as a backup tackle in 1981.

“What happened was, I made the team. First game was against Detroit,” Nicholson said.

But in an agreement with then-coach Bill Walsh, the Niners cut Nicholson in order to bring in another player but were intent on re-signing him.

What the 49ers didn’t know was that Nicholson had made plans for his post-football career. He had been accepted into the Richardson School of Law.

“That time I was the most expendable. Backup tackle. They were going to re-sign me. When I came in, I basically said, no. I’ve been accepted to law school. There was no guarantee they were going to keep me after that experience.”

So who did he say no to?

“Bill Walsh, God himself,” Nicholson said.

“And then I watched Joe Montana and Clark and all those guys go and win the Super Bowl.”

Los Banos said he watched the 49ers in the Super Bowl with Nicholson. “I kept looking at him, and he said, ‘No say nothing, no say nothing.’ ”

“When you look back, I’d trade a law degree for a Super Bowl ring anytime,” Nicholson said.

Nicholson knows, however, that he made the smart decision in the long run, because, who knows, he could have been cut again.

“It would have been nice to have both (a law degree and a ring).”

Nicholson graduated from the Richardson School of Law and passed the bar in 1986.

He worked as a management negotiator early on, eventually going into private practice and becoming a labor arbitrator and bankruptcy trustee. He became the Hawaii Labor Relations Board chairman.

He retired from the practice of law in 2016 and said he “was too bus’ up” to even continue working.

Now, Nicholson spends his time having joints replaced and rehabbing. He has had three hip replacement surgeries and a knee replacement so far. Recently, he was diagnosed with Ankylosing spondylitis. AS is an inflammatory disease that includes pain and stiffness in the spine and may affect other joints.

“It’s painful, legs going numb,” he said.

Despite his stellar athletic achievements, Nicholson said he was “not really” happy with his playing career.

“Disappointed that I got hurt, never really able to achieve what I hoped to achieve. Getting those injuries in college, blowing out my knee and my back. Everything turned out OK, but it didn’t fulfill my dreams.”

He admitted that he “wasn’t kind to my body” playing a rugged sport and it has affected him, he admits, to the point now where he can’t drive.

Still, Nicholson said he was “lucky.” Despite those injuries, I was able to play in the NFL, lucky enough to get into law school. God or luck or whatever you wanna call it. You need the break.”

Los Banos said he is proud of the accomplishments of his longtime friend.

“It’s an old cliche, “ Los Banos said, “but as big as Jimmy is, he has a bigger heart.”

———

Reach Curtis Murayama at cmurayama@staradvertiser.com.