Lonnie Lynn jumped so high that he hit the ceiling that he could never break through. He found his talent that would take him away from the streets of Chicago and across the United States but it never provided him with the stability that he needed. For much of his early adult life, Lynn struggled with drug and alcohol addictions which eventually brought a premature end to his career. As his son Common observed in the song “High Expectations” almost 30 years later, “for the game of life, full courts ain’t preppin’ us.”

Lynn always had the ability. He averaged 22 points and 23 rebounds per game during his senior collegiate season at Wilberforce University. Lynn was a late-round draft selection by the St. Louis Hawks in the NBA but he ultimately never appeared in the league. He missed his closest opportunity in 1967 when he was the final player cut by the Hawks before the start of the season. Instead, his four-year professional career was spent in an assortment of teams in an assortment of leagues across the country. Lynn played in the briefly-lived North American Basketball League for the Battle Creek Braves; the Eastern Professional Basketball League for the Trenton Colonials, Tri-Cities Flyers, Scranton Miners, New Haven Elms and Springfield Hall of Famers; and lastly the American Basketball Association for the Denver Rockets and Pittsburgh Pipers. His teams spanned Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Colorado; an impressive journey for the kid from Illinois who went to college in Iowa and Ohio.

It holds true to not only success in sport but in all dimensions of life: ability is not the sole determining factor nor is it perhaps even the most important. Lynn was more than able and his continental journey implied his burning desire to pursue a dream of his which was essentially over by the time he turned 27 in 1970. He had grown accustomed to taking pills that were prescribed to him by team doctors and suddenly found himself unable to attain them. Other dependencies took over instead. His basketball money was squandered on fuelling addictions of drugs, alcohol and lavishness. Lynn had the means to achieve the lifestyle of which he desired so much but there was no system to support him once other vices presented themselves.

So, it is fascinating that in the midst of turmoil Lynn somehow found love. He met his wife, Mahalia Ann Hines, as a student at Wilberforce University and reconnected with her when she coincidentally moved to his hometown of Chicago for work. From their love came a son who was to be named after his father — who was named after his father — who was named after his father — who was named after his father. The fifth Lonnie was born in 1972 but he chose another name for himself later in life: Common.

Lynn had to go so that he could find his way back. He left his wife and young child so that they would not have to witness his addictions; Hines told him not to come back until he was clean. Lynn moved back in with his mother and it was ultimately through her support that he began to overcome his struggles. He still had one burning obsession inside of him though which he would do anything to try achieve. Lynn would travel as far as he needed; even if it meant going across the country again. In 1974, he deceived Hines into bringing Common and joining Lynn as he drove from Illinois to Washington for a tryout with the Seattle SuperSonics; they reached as far as Wisconsin before Hines escaped and called the police who arrested Lynn for false imprisonment.

Lynn steadied himself after a move to Colorado where he worked as a youth counsellor. He maintained a strong relationship with his son and they developed a mutual love for basketball. Lynn’s connections helped Common become a ballboy for the Chicago Bulls and they would travel together to the NBA All-Star Game each year. It was not to be the passion of his father that would give Common his calling; instead, he found a love for hip hop that has taken him across the world. He found the stability that strayed from his father as well with over 30 years as an artist and sixteen studio albums.

It is undoubtable that the influence of his father guided Common on his journey. Lynn was utilised as a spoken word poet on the final track of seven of his albums where he focuses on a variety of different matters. His 1994 debut on “Pop’s Rap” from Resurrection has Lynn reminiscing on times past while his 2011 finale on “Pops Belief” from The Dreamer, The Believer is encouragement for a future for which he would not be present; he died in 2014.

Common has always maintained the connection to basketball that he received from his father. He was a longtime guest in the NBA’s annual Celebrity Game which meant he graced the courts that his father once strived to appear on. He acted as a New Jersey Nets player in Just Wright. He also infamously rapped on “Resurrection 95” that he “don’t watch the Bulls as much, they got too many white boys.”

Yet it is on “High Expectations” from the soundtrack of the 1997 basketball documentary Soul in the Hole that Common dedicates an entire track to the career of his father. He uses basketball as a metaphor for his pursuit of life to envision himself of having hoop dreams. He speaks of the alluring glamorous lifestyle that once derided his father (“intrigued by two-letter cars, SEs and GSs”), complains of poor treatment by those in positions of power (“it’s sort of foul how the world be reffin’ us”) and the consequences of having a sole focus (“never worked on my left so it’s hard to be right”). In place of his father, he invokes the names of three legendary basketball tragedies: Earl Manigault whose drug problems and criminal endeavours meant that his professional career never happened, Len Bias who died of a drug overdose two days after being drafted by the Boston Celtics, and Ben Wilson who was considered to be the next big talent out of Chicago when he was murdered aged 17.

Easily could Common have weaved the cautionary tale of his father’s life into “High Expectations” yet his respect perseveres. As Common himself states in the song, “story of many black males that I refuse to rewrite.” “High Expectations” is Common envisioning himself as having the same pursuit as his father; a set of decisions that left Lynn with so little yet gave him so much.