Travels and travails of an intrepid NBA scout

While the policy had been stated, it was not yet in practice and no one was quite sure whether it would become a reality. At the time, the most prominent sportsman in the Soviet Union was Garry Kasparov, the world chess champion. Kasparov had been so successful that he had attained a certain amount of power, and also had a lot of connections in the Soviet hierarchy.

Kasparov was the leader in helping other athletes get out of the Soviet Union and because we wanted Sarunas to play with the Warriors, I spent a lot of time in Russia and Lithuania. In a sense, there was a revolution going on and I was right in the middle of it. It all came to a head one day when Kasparov chaired a meeting with a large contingent of the media. Before the meeting, he told Sarunas, "In a matter of days, you’re either going to be a free athlete, or you’re going to be in Siberia."

Sarunas had been through a lot, so he was ready to proceed at all costs. I suddenly was more concerned about my friend’s well being, and facing his young family if the worst came true.

When the conference started, there were three military men in full uniform in the front row. On the dais were Kasparov, the hockey player Slava Fetisov and a representative of the New Jersey Devils, the tennis player Andre Chesnikov and I was representing Sarunas, who was out of the country playing in a tournament with the national team.

One by one, the military men stood up and criticized all the athletes. They said they were selfish, they were outlaws, what they were doing was illegal and that they should be ashamed of themselves. But then there was a fourth guy, an older gentleman, who stood up and said that it was time to loosen the restrictions. Slowly other journalists became braver and stood up and said the same thing. The three military guys were sinking in their chairs, knowing they had lost the day, and when the meeting ended, everything seemed very positive.

I walked out of the building like I was anywhere in America, non-chalant, bouncing on my feet because I could sense that we had just achieved a historic and decisive victory. I wondered why the athletes were so slow to leave the building, and so paranoid when they caught up to me on the street. I later found out they were afraid that someone was going to make an example of them, machine-gun them down because they did not want the system to change. With Garry’s Kremlin connections we knew this was a sensitive nerve. Now we knew how sensitive.

When we were in the home stretch of signing Sarunas, I was staying in Lithuania a lot. We knew we were under surveillance. The translator we used was taken for a ride, threatened, and roughed up by the local outfit. We would never have a conversation in Sarunas’ apartment, or in a hotel because we knew they were bugged. There were times when we were in a car, and he would pull to the side of the road because he thought we were being followed.

Was it worth it? Of course – and forget that Sarunas was an excellent player for us. Sarunas became one of my best friends and he was also responsible for Lithuania hiring me as an assistant coach for the national team. When Lithuania gained its independence and went to the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 as a nation, I was able to march in the opening ceremonies with the team. I felt such a kinship with Lithuania because it was like our country. They’d had a revolution and declared their independence. They wanted freedom. The country is absolutely basketball crazy, and Sarunas is a very important man in the country. In a way, I feel like I am a friend of the Lithuanian Paul Revere.

My belief then was as it is now. When you watched guys like Sarunas, Drazen Petrovic, Toni Kukoc, Arvydas Sabonis, Vlade Divac and Dino Radja play, you knew that there was NBA talent all over the world. As we saw in the recent Olympics, China’s team has three players taller than seven feet, and if the country allows them to play in the NBA, the Chinese will be successful.

But there is much more talent out there. When I was in Nigeria for clinics last summer, I not only survived the monsoon, which hit so hard that water was actually at window level on my taxi, but I also saw a lot of 6-10 guys walking around the street. They have big people there, but right now, there are only five Nigerians in the NBA – Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon, the Clippers’ Michael Olowokandi, Seattle’s Olumide Oyedeji, Washington’s Obinna Ekezie and Philly’s Ademola Okulaja.

If you look at other African countries, you see that Congo has produced one player, Dikembe Mutombo, and the Sudan has produced one player, Manute Bol. It makes no sense that such a large continent has produced so few players, so there is obviously a lot of potential in Africa. The coaching and the facilities are not that good, but if there is progress, we could eventually see many more Africans in the NBA.

And that is true for the rest of the world. As much progress as international players have made in the NBA, as we move forward, they will make even more. And I will be out there trying to find them, doing whatever I have to do , which unfortunately, means I will also be drinking whatever I have to drink.