Simply the Best - SPORTING CHANCE by Joaquin M. Henson

Long-time import John Herbert Best, also known as John Muhammad since his conversion to Islam, hopes to return to the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) this year.

At the moment, Best — who turned 30 last March 7 — is enjoying an All-Star season, playing for Bayer Leverkusen in the German Division I league. He’s averaging 22.1 points and hitting 90.1 percent from the line to lead the Bundesliga in that department. Best was named MVP in the recent Bundesliga All-Star Game as he compiled 23 points, five rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots, and three steals in 27 minutes to power the North to a 112-109 win over the South.

"If it will be the will of God, I will be back for the Second Conference," said Best in an exclusive e-mail to The STAR. "I see that my Filipino dad is doing pretty good at Shell. Coach Perry (Ronquillo) taught me a lot. He taught me to keep fighting to the end and never give up no matter how bad things might look or turn out. Look at Shell now. Last year, we had a lot of injuries and setbacks. This year, we’ve won more games than all of last year. Perry is doing a fine job and so is Shell management. I think Chris Jackson is the key — I’m not saying that ‘cause he’s my best friend in the Philippines along with Vic Pablo but he’s the heart of that team."

Best lives in Leverkusen, only five minutes from Cologne and 20 from Dusseldorf, with his wife Attalah and their two children — Takiya, 4, and Jameel, 6. The Bests celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary last March 23.

Best said the Bundesliga is "cool" but it’s not like the PBA.

"In European basketball, there is not a lot of up-tempo play like in the PBA," he explained. "Mainly because in Europe, they play a lot of zone. There are four 10-minute quarters, a 24-second shot clock, and players cannot call timeouts. I tell everybody that the Philippines is the best place to play because the style of play is like the NBA (National Basketball Association). Would you believe that all the press people who interviewed me here laughed at me when I said I played in the Philippines? They said that all the PBA players are small and the league is second or third rate. Well, I let them know that the Philippine people are the most friendly in the world, then I said that the PBA was the best league I played in and that because of the PBA, I have improved my game a lot."

Best said he had to prove himself on the court at first to gain the confidence of the Bayer coach and his teammates. "I quickly showed and proved my skills there and all of a sudden, they started calling me John ‘Simply the’ Best," he added. "This is the best season I’ve had in my seven-year career and I owe it all to the PBA. I have agents calling me every week saying that I’m going to be a hot commodity for the next season. They all want me to leave my agent Bobby Rius, who is Filipino, because they think that he cannot get me the good jobs in Europe. If it were not for Bobby, I wouldn’t be in Germany — he got me this job. Bobby believed in me all along and I respect that."

Life in Germany has its ups and downs.

"My children are attending a German kindergarten school and my son speaks a little German," said Best. "My wife is doing good and she is my other coach. The one thing I do not like here is the weather. It rains five out of seven days and when it’s not raining, its gloomy. When the sun does shine, it’s for a little while. Just yesterday, I went to a car wash ‘cause the sun was shining and as soon as I came out, it was pouring rain."

Best said although he has occasionally blown his top to protest officiating in the PBA, he loves the league. "I love to play the game," he continued. "I play with a lot of passion, desire and emotion that sometimes I go off. I have done things in the past that I regret, like referee-bashing and comments to the media about the referees but I truly love the PBA. I talk about the Philippines all the time. I even had dinner over a Filipina’s house here. Her name is Cristina and she is married to a German who works for Bayer. At dinner, she made our favorite dish—lumpia and pansit. I came to find out her best friend is Dyan Castillejo who hosts a sports show on ABS-CBN. We watched some of her shows after dinner."

Dyan confirmed that her friend, Cristina (Ting) Hellberg, lives in Germany and she often sends her tapes of her show "Sports Unlimited."

Finally, Best sent his regards to the PBA fans and especially to Shell fans, to PBA Commissioner Jun Bernardino, and to Viva Vintage’s Ronnie Nathanielsz and Anthony Suntay.

Best started playing here in 1995. He suited up for San Miguel Beer then two years later, moved to Shell. The 6-8, 215-pound forward teamed with Donald Williams to steer Shell to the 1999 Governors Cup crown. Best has played in 111 PBA games so far, with 56 wins. Last season, he averaged 33.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.4 assists. Best led the league in free throw percentage at .901. In this farewell game last year, Best fired a career-high 50 points but Shell lost a 91-77 decision to Mobiline.

Best was the NCAA’s No. 3 scorer as a Tennessee Tech senior in 1992-93. He averaged 28.5 points and topped the likes of Vin Baker, Glenn Robinson and Penny Hardaway in the scoring ladder. Best was the New Jersey Nets’ second round pick in the 1993 NBA draft and chosen ahead of Nick Van Exel and Byron Russell.

Before landing a job in Germany, Best had other European stints in France, Spain, and Switzerland.

"John B is doing great," wrote Rius. "I already got a starting bid of $300,000 from Bayer to keep him. I will counter with $500,000. He’s a hot player right now. A big firm in Greece, Derby Sports, wants to be a partner with me in representing John. Spain, Israel, and France are also asking."

If you ask John, the Best is still to come from him.