Bates in jail, says ex-coach

NEW JERSEY — Former Portland Trail Blazers coach Jack Ramsay said yesterday Billy Ray Bates is in prison for armed robbery.

Bates played 2 1/2 years for Ramsay in Portland where his teammates included Kermit Washington, Jim Paxson, and Maurice Lucas.

"It was about six months ago when I heard the news," added Ramsay who’s in town doing analysis of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals for ESPNradio. "He robbed someone at knifepoint."

Ramsay couldn’t confirm reports that before the imprisonment, Bates sold doughnuts in a New Jersey sidewalk.

"Billy Ray was a great player but he just couldn’t get over drugs and alcohol," said Ramsay. "He would get abrasive and arrogant when he was either high or drunk."

Ramsay said he knew Bates became a big star in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). "Someone told me they called him ‘Black Jesus’ over there," he said.

Correction, I interjected. "Black Superman," I said. "And he wore custom-made basketball shoes, too."

Ramsay’s eyes rolled up. "Yeah, that would be Billy Ray," the Hall of Famer said. "If you want to know more about him, check out Steve Kauffman in California. Steve used to be his agent. Maybe, he knows if Billy Ray is now out of prison."

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NBA commissioner David Stern invited international broadcasters to luxury suite No. 38 at the SBC Center to watch the hometown San Antonio Silver Stars play the Phoenix Mercury in a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) game last Thursday.

Stern was in a jolly, good mood. He greeted the guests warmly–not in his usual coat-and-tie but in casual clothes. Food and drinks didn’t run out.

When the Solar Sports TV broadcasting team was introduced to Stern, he smiled broadly. "Of course, I know these guys," he said. Stern referred to broadcasters Chino Trinidad and Quinito Henson (yours truly). Chino met Stern during the All-Star Weekend in Atlanta last February and said he cherishes a picture that was taken of them together–a portrait of two Commissioners. I’d met Stern on different NBA events before.

Stern leisurely walked around the luxury box to talk hoops with the "guys." With Stern in the suite were NBA Entertainment president Adam Silver and executive vice president Heidi Ueberroth. He was glued to his chair when the action picked up and applauded animatedly as the female pros dazzled the fans with their virtuosity.

Also in the suite was Glenn Harris, a Puerto Rican who manages the league’s Latin American operations out of Miami. Harris is an arnis enthusiast who spent a month in the Philippines a few years ago tracing the roots of the martial art. He said he enjoyed a trip to Paete, Laguna, where the arnis sticks are carved out of native wood. Harris said he was amazed at the Filipinos’ ability to speak English.

"Little kids acted as my interpreters when I met up with older folks who couldn’t speak English too fluentl," he said. "I’d love to go back and visit Cebu which is where arnis originated."

As if to honor Stern and his guests, the Silver Stars snapped a four-game winning streak to crank out a 70-55 win over the Mercury.

The standouts in the game were the Silver Stars’ 7-2 center Margo Dydek of Poland and the Mercury’s six-foot guard Lisa Harrison who was once featured as the sexiest female athlete in Playboy Magazine — with her clothes on, of course.