I thought this incident had blown over. But since I saw another "letter," I believe some comments, other than the ones I have read lately, should be made in defense of Coach Reid.
His comments do not reflect the individual views of the LDS Church's "9 million" members. I thought this was obvious. He was speaking collectively. He was saying BYU and the basketball team and program represent the LDS Church. And if you are a member of that church, then you should be supportive of BYU (which I understand from my University of Utah friends is the case except when BYU plays Utah).Therefore "9 million members" should feel good when their church's school does well in anything, including sports. And they should feel disappointed when the school or any of its team members don't do well. Therefore, the disappointment of Chris not coming to BYU is felt by BYU and those who support BYU, i.e., the church members collectively, not individually.
Excellence in anything uplifting has always been Coach Reid's attitude with his basketball program and his players. That is exemplified by his encouraging players to go on missions even though his program may be hurt by that decision, e.g., Shawn Bradley.
Now, I don't believe Coach Reid said what he did to hurt the feelings of Chris Burgess. I believe he said it to remind Burgess of what he had probably told him before: to play for BYU is to play for the LDS Church. To represent an institution that reflects the values of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Yes, Chris can also represent the LDS Church back at Duke, but he is doing it as an individual, not as part of an organization that represents the church he belongs to.
I believe Chris Burgess will be a good example of an LDS Church member. And, I look forward to seeing him play on TV. I am just disappointed he won't be wearing a different blue and white uniform.
Bruce Barton
Layton