NBA legends blow into town

MANILA, Philippines - Former Los Angeles Lakers forward Glen Rice, four NBA D-Leaguers, six Miami Heat cheer-dancers and mascot Burnie arrived last night in the first wave of visitors performing in the second NBA Asia Challenge at the Araneta Coliseum this Friday.

NBA legends Gary Payton and Mitch Richmond, teammates on the 1996 US team that struck gold at the 1996 Olympics, are flying in today while 1993 NBA first overall draft pick Chris Webber checks in early tomorrow to complete the cast.

The four D-Leaguers are 6-5 Richie Frahm of Gonzaga University, 6-8 Darnell Lazare of Louisiana State, 6-5 Chris McCray of Maryland and 6-5 Mark Tyndale of Temple. Frahm, a four-year NBA veteran, played for Talk ‘N’ Text as an import in the 2002 PBA Governors Cup.

In an innovation, the NBA legends and D-Leaguers will be split into two squads to play alongside PBA legends and active stars. PBA Fiesta Conference finals coaches Tim Cone of Alaska and Siot Tanquingcen of San Miguel Beer will call the shots for the opposing teams with a coin toss to determine which side to take.

Making up the Red selection are Payton, Rice, Lazare, McCray, Atoy Co, Vergel Meneses, Allan Caidic, Asi Taulava, L. A. Tenorio and Arwind Santos. The White team is composed of Webber, Richmond, Tyndale, Frahm, Alvin Patrimonio, Benjie Paras, Ronnie Magsanoc, Ronald Tubid, Rico Maierhofer and Dondon Hontiveros.

Threatening to steal the thunder from the players are the six Miami cheer-dancers and Heat mascot Burnie who will appear on the court in a full-body, furry-orange costume with a miniature green basketball for a nose and orange-feather hair. Burnie was recently in the news for feigning suicidal if Dwayne Wade left Miami – which he didn’t. In 1994, the mascot was sued for $1 million in a ridiculous case stemming from a halfcourt dance with a Puerto Rico federal judge’s wife who fell during the act. The case was settled for $50,000.

Expected to tangle in a match-up of beefy centers are the 6-10, 245-pound Webber and the 6-9, 250-pound Taulava. Two long-range bombers who will duel from the perimeter are Caidic and Frahm. Another intriguing mano-a-mano confrontation pits Tenorio against Magsanoc in a battle of point guards from different eras.

 The visitors are billeted at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati. Tickets for the game are now available at all Ticketnet outlets, SM department stores and the Araneta box office. Ticket prices range from P265 for general admission to P2,650 for the patron section. Ticket inqui ries may be made at Tel. 911-5555.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime treat,” said Vitto Lazatin, director in charge of the event for Solar Sports. “It’s not often you get three NBA legends with championship rings from different teams and another legend with an incredible career history to play in a game. Two of those four legends were teammates on the 1996 US Olympic team with Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone and John Stockton. Then, you get the added feature of the legends playing with our own PBA legends and current stars. You couldn’t ask for anything more. It’s the biggest one-game basketball event of the year.”

Rice, 43, earned his ring with the Lakers in 2000, joining Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher. Richmond, 45, also picked up his ring with O’Neal, Bryant, Fisher and the Lakers in 2002. Payton, 42, won his ring in 2006, combining forces with O’Neal, Wade and Udonis Haslem for the Miami Heat. Webber, 37, figured in two memorable conference finals with Sacramento against the Lakers in 2001-02 and Detroit against Cleveland in 2006-07. C-Webb played in two NCAA finals with University of Michigan teammates Juwan Howard and Jalen Rose.

Payton and Richmond played on two Olympic squads. Known as “The Glove” for the way he plays suffocating defense, Payton saw action on the US teams that won the gold medal in 1996 and 2000. Richmond played on the US team that took the bronze in 1988 and joined Payton in 1996.

The 1996 US Olympic team posted an 8-0 record with a whopping average winning margin of 31.8 points. The largest spread was 63 in the US’ 133-70 whipping of China. Aside from Richmond and Payton, the players included Dave Robinson, Grant Hill, Reggie Miller and Penny Hardaway. Coach was Lenny Wilkens.

Last year, the first NBA Asia Challenge featured four NBA legends with six D-Leaguers crushing five PBA legends with 10 PBA active stars, 109-86, at the Big Dome. The NBA legends were Dominique Wilkins, Robert Horry, Tim Hardaway and Vlade Divac. The PBA legends and current players who are returning for the sequel are Caidic, Patrimonio, Paras, Magsanoc, Hontiveros, Santos and Taulava.