“I don’t think that I ever met a nicer man than Louie Carnesecca. In the whole sports world, this whole time I’ve been covering the industry, and it’s been 45 years,” Wilbon began.

That was summarized by one of Carnesecca’s mantras. “The expression Louie used all the time with the young coaches was, ‘leave the chandeliers,’” Carlesimo said. “You don’t have to ...