Whatley nice guy, hero in PBA
MANILA, Philippines — When the great Michael Jordan kickstarted his legendary NBA career with the Chicago Bulls in 1984, he had one teammate who would later be a part of history in the PBA under the San Miguel banner.
Guard Ennis Whatley was a sophomore with the 1984 Bulls – a batch now controversial following Jordan’s revelation in “The Last Dance” documentary. In the docu’s maiden episode, Jordan recalled a “party” in which he “witnessed things I’ve never seen in my life.”
Also in that Chicago roster was Wes Matthews, another name familiar to PBA fans. Matthews, who suited up for the Bulls in 1984-85 and later won NBA championships with the Showtime Lakers in 1987 and 1988, played ball for Ginebra San Miguel, helping the Gins to a runner-up finish in the 1991 Third Conference behind first-time champ Alaska.
Whatley, who played alongside “His Airness” in Chicago for two years and had stops at Cleveland, Washington, San Antonio, Atlanta, LA Clippers and Portland later on, took his act to the Philippines to beef up embattled grand slam-seeking SMB in 1989.
He replaced Keith Smart, the future Sacramento Kings coach, as the then Open Conference and All-Filipino Conference winner SMB struggled to a 2-3 start in the season-ending Reinforced meet.
The 6-foot-3 Whatley was just what the doctor ordered for the treble hunters. He spearheaded them to a 6-4 overall record in the elims and 12-6 after the semis en route to a finals trip against crowd favorite Añejo.
Whatley more than held his own against Añejo’s high-scoring import Carlos Briggs. He dropped at least 50 points twice in the title series as SMB emerged victorious in five games and achieved the third Triple Crown feat in PBA history.
“We were very lucky to recruit a player the quality of Ennis Whatley,” Norman Black, the chief tactician of the SMB grandslam who’s now with Meralco, recalled in a STAR interview.
For Black, Whatley’s humble personality, aside from his obvious hoops skills, made him click with the star-studded crew led by four-time MVP Ramon Fernandez, Hector Calma, Samboy Lim, and comebacking Ricky Brown.
“Keith Smart came down with a groin injury and could no longer play. Ennis arrived and fit in right away because he was a low maintenance player who got along with the SMB players immediately,” said Black.
“Very simple, no air, tahimik na tao, gets the job done,” was how Fernandez remembered Whatley.
The grand slam-winning mentor counts Whatley among the best imports he has handled in the PBA.
“He was one of the most efficient imports I ever coached because he was a high percentage shooter who rarely committed turnovers,” said Black.
“He was one of the main reasons we were able to complete our grand slam,” he added.