Christian Petersen / Getty Images

Former UCLA college basketball coach John Wooden looks on during the John R. Wooden Classic match Dec. 13.`

updated 3:07 p.m. ET Jan. 4, 2009

The little condo on Margate Street in Encino, Calif., wouldn't pass many eyeball tests, not that the old man who has lived there since 1972 has any intention to sell it. If you want it, you're simply going to have to wait for John Wooden to die.

Sadly — and beautifully — you wouldn't be the only one. Wooden, perhaps the greatest American coach in any sport, never thought he'd live to the age of 98. And he never thought living without his beloved wife, Nell, whom he lost in 1985, would be so hard for so long. Of all the love in his heart — for the three generations of family who surround him and the dozens of former players who keep him as close as ever — most of it still belongs to her. All he wants is to see his Nellie again.

Meanwhile, Wooden's loved ones want for him. Tony Spino, the UCLA trainer who has looked after him for years, sleeps at the condo five nights a week. Jim Wooden, 72, the coach's only son, sleeps there on Thursdays and Fridays. Wooden's granddaughter Caryn Bernstein, 48, shows up at 7 a.m. almost daily. Caryn's 74-year-old mother, Nan Wooden, who is Wooden's only daughter, is a regular factor in an equation of constant companionship and care.

They wish he would sell the place — packed with decades-old furniture, books, photographs, and other mementos — and move somewhere nicer.

"We try to tell him, 'Daddy, Mother would not like this,' " Nan says.

But he won't.

John Wooden will be here until the end — a happy man at peace with dying, whenever that moment comes. He spent a morning with Sporting News' Steve Greenberg at the place lovingly referred to by UCLA great Bill Walton as The Wooden Mansion on Margate. Here are excerpts from their conversation:

SN: Many things here are just so: the books, the photographs. And also many things that belonged to Nell — even the little things, like her lipstick. Are you holding on to her still?

WOODEN: Yes. All the things that she used, like her makeup. And her side of the bed. Her gown is stretched out on her side of the bed since I lost her. And once the sheets are changed, then we put everything back the same way. So I wouldn't want to leave here.

SN: You had that frightful fall in February, and there have been others. Are you in much pain?

WOODEN: No, I'm not. The worst pain I have is in my knees. (Doctors) won't do anything about it. Both of them have to be replaced, but I'm too old. Those other things healed very well, all except the wrist. But otherwise, no pain.

SN: What do you love about basketball these days?

WOODEN: Well, more than anything else today, it's the fact that at the place where I have breakfast almost every morning, one of my ex-players will show up. Mike Warren, Keith (Jamaal) Wilkes; Bill Walton drives up from San Diego, and that's nice. I love my memories about the time that I taught these players. I think about it. And I like the game now, but I don't like the game as much. I have never cared for the showmanship, and I think there is too much showmanship in the game today. While I think the players today are just unbelievable — their athleticism — I don't think team play is as good as it used to be.

SN: What's it like for you to watch UCLA play?

WOODEN: The interest that I have had over the years is still there. When I retired, I was so concerned about the players who had played for me that I really couldn't enjoy the game as much. But when they were all gone, then I could enjoy it a little bit more. UCLA is doing well. I'm impressed with the coach that we have now (Ben Howland). The last three years, he's been in the Final Four, and not many have done that. He's an extremely impressive defensive coach.

SN: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is 61 years old. Is that difficult for you to comprehend?

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WOODEN: It's a little difficult to realize. But going further than that, you may or may not know that I've been a speaker for the McDonald's High School All American Game. Three years ago, it was held in South Bend, (Ind.), where I taught (at Central High School) for nine years. I thought I shouldn't go, but they wanted me to come very much, and finally I went. They were very nice; they sent their private plane, and I could take my family. They had a luncheon, and they tried to get as many athletes as they could who had played for me at that high school. Twenty-six players. The oldest of them was 88. And I think the youngest was probably 80. That was wonderful. Also, I'd had several of their wives in English class. It was fun. That's one of the really enjoyable times that I've had, and I almost didn't do it.

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