US cager found dead in Brazil not ‘Hurricane’

The news of the body of American basketball player Tony Harris found dead in Brazil created some buzz in the country’s pro loop.

PBA media bureau chief Willy Marcial said they received a number of calls inquiring whether this Tony Harris was the same Tony Harris who took the local pro league by storm in the mid-90s.

“We’re deluged with inquiries but we couldn’t make any confirmation. We have had no contact with the former Swift import,” said Marcial.

But a check in the PBA records and in the internet showed there were two players named Tony Harris – one was the flamboyant ex-Swift import who made it to the NBA (Philadelphia and Boston) and another who played pro ball in Brazil known as Tony Lee Harris.

The latter’s body, according to the Associated Press, was found hanging from a tree at Golas, some 200km from the capital Brazilia and investigations did not rule out the possibility of a suicide. He played for the Brazilian team Universo.

This Tony Harris, who would have turned 37 Sunday, played on the Washington State team that reached the 1994 East Regional of the NCAA tournament.

The former PBA super import, nicknamed the Hurricane, is 40 and a product of University of New Orleans.

Harris blew into the PBA in 1992 as an import for the Swift franchise. He is widely acknowledged as one of the most dominant imports in PBA history, scoring a league-high 105 points when they defeated Ginebra, 152-147, in a road game in Iloilo on Oct. 20, 1992.

He played for the Boston Celtics for two seasons. In 1994, he had his best season with averages of 8.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.2 turnovers on 17.6 minutes in five games. He finished his NBA career with an average of 4.9 points on 10.5 minutes in 14 contests.