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Harris, Frye Mourning Loss of Grandfather

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

By John Denton

Jan. 30, 2015

ORLANDO – Upset by the Orlando Magic’s recent struggles and in their own poor play of late, forwards Tobias Harris and Channing Frye got a heavy dose of reality on Thursday upon learning about the passing of their grandfather.

While saddened by the death, Harris and Frye – first cousins and first-season teammates with the Magic – are filled with pride when talking about Lt. Col. John Mulzac, who was formerly a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen. The group of African-American pilots battled through racism and segregation and played a big role in bombing missions during World War II. Mulzac was one of fewer than 1,000 pilots trained at the two air fields open to minorities for the war.

Mulzac recently suffered a stroke – just as a NBA TV special was about to air about the struggles with acceptance that the members of the Tuskegee Airmen faced – and he died on Thursday in his native Brooklyn. Harris and Frye learned of the death before Orlando’s 115-100 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks and understandably both players struggled through the night.

``He meant a lot to me as a kid always being around him and the leader that he was,’’ said Harris, who personally wrote a tribute to his grandfather on Instagram. ``It was an upsetting day for me (on Thursday) and upsetting for Channing also because it was his grandfather also. For something like that to happen, it broke my heart.’’

Harris and Frye, who are separated by nine years in age, are playing together for the first time ever as pros. Frye, 31, signed a four-year free-agent deal with Orlando last July and playing for the Magic has allowed him to grow closer to Harris. Their mothers are sisters and their father was Lt. Col. Mulzac, so the entire family is still trying to come to grips with the loss of the patriarch.

``For me, he inspired me to be who I am and he was the leader of our family. He will be greatly missed,’’ Frye said. ``He let us know that we were able to do whatever we put our mind to. And he always let us know that family was real important. Everything that you could ever ask out of a grandfather, he was that. He helped raise me when my parents were trying to take care of their own business and he’s been an inspiration to everyone in our family. Not having him here is weird.’’

Harris and Frye said that Mulzac would watch his two grandsons’ Magic games on television and preferred the comfort of his own home as opposed to going to NBA arenas.

Through the years, Harris and Frye learned more about Mulzac’s heroics as a pilot in World War II and as a reservist in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Mulzac rarely talked about the challenges that he faced as an African-American pilot or the horrors of war, but the two grandsons grew to admire the former Lt. Col. more from the stories that they would hear through the media and their parents.

``He had a tremendous amount of strength and passion and I’ve tried to take some of that and incorporate it into my life and what I’m going through,’’ Harris said. ``It has no standard of balance with this situation (of the Magic struggling), but you have to learn to accept things as a person. What he went through to become the strong person that he was … he lived a great life. It’s been tough.’’

Harris and Frye are both expected to play Saturday night when the Magic host the Dallas Mavericks. Both said basketball is a sanctuary from the grief that they are feeling over losing their famed grandfather.

``Just being able to run up and down and get a sweat in, it sort of takes your mind off of it a little bit,’’ Frye admitted. ``I just woke up this morning and kissed my kids and wife. You’ve just got to keep moving because that’s what he’d want us to do. I’m just still going through the process I guess.’’

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