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NBA Legend, 'Empire' Star to be Inducted Into 2015 Bronx Walk of Fame

By Eddie Small | April 17, 2015 4:08pm | Updated on April 20, 2015 8:51am
 Four Bronxites will be inducted into the borough's Walk of Fame this year.
Bronx Walk of Fame 2015 Inductees
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THE BRONX — A 12-time NBA All-Star, the frozen ice king, a star of the FOX show "Empire" and Dionne from "Clueless" have another honor to add to their careers: being named to the Bronx Walk of Fame.

Actor Malik Yoba, who played Vernon Turner on "Empire," and Dolph Schayes, who spent years playing pro basketball for the Syracuse Nationals (precursors to the Philadelphia 76ers,) are among the inductees to the 2015 Bronx Walk of Fame.

Rounding out the class are actress Stacey Dash, who has performed in "Clueless," "The Cosby Show" and "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," and businessman Alfredo Thiebaud, the founder of Delicioso Coco Helado.

Schayes grew up in University Heights at Davidson Avenue and 183rd Street, and he learned most of the basics of basketball while playing it in the schoolyard at P.S. 91, he said.

"All the fundamentals were encased in three-on-three basketball," he said. "And I learned the real game, the passing and hitting the open man."

He led DeWitt Clinton High School to a basketball championship growing up, after which he played for New York University and the Syracuse Nationals, a team he chose over the New York Knicks.

"The Knicks drafted me, and the Syracuse Nationals drafted me," he said. "The Syracuse Nationals offered $7,500 as a salary, and The Knicks only offered $5,000 even though I was a first round draft choice."

Schayes played professional basketball from 1948 to 1964, won the NBA Championship in 1955, and received the league's Coach of the Year award in 1966 with the 76ers. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1972.

Thiebaud, who died in September in a tragic work accident, will be inducted posthumously. He was crushed by a roll-down gate at his factory by St. Anns Avenue and East 161st Street.

"Alfredo was a friend, and he was someone the people of The Bronx could always count on for support," Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. said in a statement. "He created thousands of jobs during his career, and his business has become synonymous with summer in New York City."

Thiebaud founded Delicioso Coco Helado in 1967 out of his apartment in the South Bronx, and he was a well-known philanthropist as well, strongly supporting community organizations like Little Leagues and youth groups.

Dash began acting in 1982 with a role in the made-for-TV thriller "Farrell for the People" and was hired as a Fox News contributor in May 2014 for cultural analysis and commentary. Her memoir "There Goes My Social Life" is due out this summer.

Yoba began his acting career in 1993 with a part in "Cool Runnings," a Disney movie about a Jamaican bobsled team, and he has appeared in shows ranging from "Arrested Development" to "CSI: Miami" as well.

“This is an honor to be inducted into the ‘Bronx Walk of Fame,’" he said in a statement, "a borough that taught me the values of life and giving back to the community."

Members of the 2015 Walk of Fame class will officially be inducted during the 44th annual Bronx Week, a celebration of the borough taking place this year from May 7 to May 17. Their names will be emblazoned onto a street sign along Grand Concourse.