PHILIPPINE NEWS SERVICE — KAREEM Abdul-Jabbar has been in the Philippines three times before. And now that he is on his fourth tour here, he expects nothing but a tremendous amount of improvement from the country’s finest basketball players – past or present.
The Hall of Famer globally recognized as the one who popularized the sky hook appeared before the media yesterday promoting the final leg of the NBA Asia Challenge his Generations’ team will play against the PBA All-Stars on Sept. 11 at the Araneta Coliseum. Game time is at 7:30 p.m.
“I expect the level of play here has improved, the competitiveness,” said Jabbar, the NBA all-time scoring leader and winner of six championships – five with the Los Angeles Lakers – and a 19-time member of the NBA All-Stars.
“It has something that has grown up.”
Jabbar, 62, arrived last Monday together with the core of the NBA Generations squad, namely: Tim Hardaway, Robert Horry, Dominique Wilkins, and Vlade Divac. The rest of the team are D-League Futures’ Derrick Dial, Chris Ellis, Marcus Hubbard, Russel Robinson, Lanny Smith and Billy Thomas.
Rory White will be the head coach for the NBA Generations with Jabbar acting as assistant coach.
Making up the PBA All-Stars are four-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) Alvin Patrimonio, Allan Caidic, Ronnie Magsanoc, Benjie Paras and Kenneth Duremdes, as well as active players’ Wynne Arboleda, Dondon Hontiveros, Marc Pingris, Jay-R Reyes, Arwind Santos, Asi Taulava, Joachim Thoss, Rico Villa-nueva and Joseph Yeo.
Yeng Guiao, the former national coach, will be handling the PBA All-Stars squad.
“These are the guys changed the game,” said Guiao. “I grew up watching Kareem and the ‘showtime’ LA Lakers. They may be out in the NBA, but I know these guys are still in shape and they can still play.”
The average age of the four NBA players who will form the core of the NBA Generations team is 43. But it doesn’t mean that the skills that elevated them to superstar status have already diminished.
Hardaway (43) is still expected to show off his famous cross-over move; Divac (41) his power play down low; Horry (43), also known as ‘Big Shot Bob’ for hitting the crucial shots at crunch time, his talent from the long court; and Wilkins (49) the slam dunks, although not likely to be as powerful as when he was younger.
Wilkins, who was also famous for engaging Larry Bird in a furious fourth-quarter scoring duel in the Finals of the Eastern Conference in 1988, likewise was best remembered for engaging Michael Jordan in a classic slam dunk contest in the 1988 All-Stars.
“The thing about basketball is people love it and fans appreciate,” said Horry, who played 16 seasons in the NBA and captured seven titles – three with the Lakers and two each with the Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs.
“I’m glad to have this kind of reception, one of the best I’ve had.”
This is actually the last stop by the NBA Generations squad in their Asian tour after a stint in Korea where they played against two teams, winning against the Elephants (94-82) and the Korean All-Stars (114-98).
The NBA Generations will also conduct mall tours and clinics during their stay here.