Sporting Chance

Yesterday, I was on the telephone talking to former National Basketball Association (NBA) star Nate (Tiny) Archibald and NBA Senior Vice President for New League Development Rob Levine.

NBA Asia Director of Public Relations Cheong Sau Ching arranged the long distance call from her Hong Kong office and linked up to Archibald and Levine in New Jersey.

Thank heavens it wasn't a collect call. I was on the line for an hour in a conference call with 15 other journalists -- four each from China and Taiwan, five from Hong Kong, and two from Korea -- to talk about the league's participation in the Asian Basketball Association (ABA) which starts its inaugural 20-game season in Taipei on June 8.

The NBA is sending Archibald to coach a team called the Ambassadors in the ABA. China, Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong will also see action in the six-week tournament. Except for China, the Asian teams will be beefed up by at least one import.

Archibald opened training camp for 12 invitees in New Jersey yesterday and said he expects the Ambassadors to win the first ABA title. The team will be based in Hong Kong and plays its first game against the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association All-Stars in Taipei on June 8.

"I'm excited," said Archibald, a Hall of Famer who led the NBA in scoring and assists in 1973. "This is a great opportunity. It's not going to be about winning or losing, it's more about the development of young players and bringing the NBA's approach to the game to fans in Asia."

Although Archibald said he's looking forward to enjoying Asian culture, learning, sharing, and spreading goodwill, the Ambassadors are definitely out to win.

"We won't be playing exhibitions," he continued. "This is a totally different concept. We'll be competing in a league. We're getting the guys in shape. We don't have any superstars. We'll get the players to mesh together and create chemistry. We'll build confidence and desire. We'll play like the game was played in the "50s, '60s, and '70s when the ball just kept on moving and the defense never knew where the shot was coming from. We've got guys who've played in Asia and who know Asian players like Wayman Strickland so we'll rely on those guys to give us scouting reports on our opponents."

Archibald said he remembers visiting Manila with the Walt Frazier tour group in 1975 and playing with Scott Wedman under coach Caloy Loyzaga in an exhibition series. He met Loyzaga again during the recent All-Star Weekend in Oakland.

"I try to stay in contact with the guys who brought me over to Manila," added Archibald. "I had a great time. I'm ecstatic to go back to Asia. It's like a home away from home."

Archibald recalled that during his NBA tenure, the players didn't get as much publicity or notoriety as today's stars. Because there's so much money on the table, he said players often forego their education to turn pro without the foundation of sound fundamentals. Archibald, however, conceded Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett are exceptions.

As to which NBA player today resembles his style, Archibald singled out Kenny Anderson. "Stephon Marbury is a penetrator like me although he doesn't jump as high," he noted. "Allen Iverson? Fans tell me we're alike. He's a scoring guard like I was. But I was more of a quarterback and penetrator, he's more of a quick-stop jumpshooter who plays above the rim. He's basically a 2-guard while I was a point guard who ran the team, passed and scored."

Archibald said sooner than later, an Asian player will work his way into the NBA.

He said the route to take is to play for a US school, make good, and get drafted. If an Asian player in a US school doesn't get drafted, at least he will have gotten a good education.

"I'm still a student of the game," he said. "I'm lucky to be part of this NBA program. It gives me an opportunity to learn about myself, how effective I am as a coach, educator and counsellor. We've got a lot to give to the fans, a lot to offer -- especially to the kids. I enjoy teaching youngsters because they absorb much more and they keep it in them."

Levine, for his part, said the Ambassadors' trip is an NBA initiative to promote the sport throughout the world. He described it as an opportunity for the coaching staff and players to transcend boundaries and interact with Asian fans.

"We're all winners in this effort," said Levine.

Next year, Levine disclosed that the NBA will organize a developmental league for players just out of college and last-cuts. He said it will not compete with the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) which the NBA subsidizes. "Our idea is to start slowly with about six to 10 teams playing in small cities of 750,000 people or less," he explained. "It won't be a farm system. Each team will be a single enterprise owned by the NBA."

Levin's perspective is long-term -- the objective is to develop more markets and more players for the NBA.

So who'll make it to the NBA Finals this year?

Archibald hinted that it could be the Los Angeles Lakers versus the New York Knicks but wouldn't say for sure. "Who's to say who'll make it?" said Archibald. "I'm not playing anymore, I'm just a fan."

After the ABA, what will Archibald do?

"I'll go back to New York," he replied. "I've got a team I'm coaching in the summer. I also run clinics with Rod Strickland for boys and girls. I'm a big spectator and I'm just happy to be around the game. I've always wanted to be a part of the NBA all my life. But if not, life still goes on. That's why education is so important -- it gives you a good foundation, it gives you alternatives in life."