With more than 300 youthful Bruins simultaneously cheering, crying and hugging each other across the street, the scene was quieter just outside the sliding doors at the east entrance of the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
There, Jim and Nan Wooden, John Wooden’s son and daughter, stood quietly taking in the 8-claps across the street.
“All these kids, they never even knew my dad,” Nan Wooden, 73, said. “They weren’t even born ““ so it’s a great tribute.”
Both of Wooden’s two children stood composed, emotions in check less than two hours after their father’s passing.
“He wanted to be with my mom,” Jim Wooden, 71, said. “Twenty-five years ago, she passed away, and today is his day.”
Jim Wooden said all of his father’s children and grandchildren were at the hospital Friday with the legendary coach. He added that John Wooden refused life support, and Nan Wooden said her father’s heart remained strong until he passed away.
“It was (a hard week) for us, because dad’s a fighter,” Jim Wooden said. “But he was ready to go, and we were ready to let him go.”