Has age slowed down 7-foot-9 Ri?

If height is might in basketball, then North Korea’s 7-9 towering center Ri Myong Hun will be tough to topple in the 14th Asian Games in Busan. Ri’s the tallest player listed in the 12-nation cage tournament–taller than either of China’s giants 7-5 Yao Ming and 6-11 Mengke Bateer. Imagine Ri at low post, surrounded by defenders who reach only up to his chest. If he takes a turnaround jumper, nobody has arms long enough to block his shot.

Ri could be a problem for the Philippines when coach Joseph Uichico’s Nationals take on North Korea in Group C action at the 5,500-seat Guemjeong gym today.

At the 1991 Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) championships in Kobe, Ri erupted for 55 points but North Korea lost an 87-86 decision to the Philippines. Among the Filipinos whom Ri dwarfed in the tournament were Marlou Aquino, Johnny Abarrientos, and Boyet Fernandez–who is in Busan as an alternate in Uichico’s lineup.

But Ri, who once took the name Michael to dedicate his career to his idol Michael Jordan, isn’t the same Ri who, in 1993, powered North Korea to second place behind only China at the ABC joust and took MVP honors in Jakarta.

Ri turned 35 last Sept. 14 and according to Detroit Pistons international scout Tony Ronzone, "has slowed down a bit." Ri was badly injured in a car accident in Pyongyang a few weeks before the Bangkok Asian Games in 1998 and hasn’t seen action in an international competition since the mishap.

"He’s still playing," said Ronzone, quoted by Michael Murphy in the Houston Chronicle. "But I think he lost a lot of his motivation. He’s a guy who never got the chance for the world to see what he could have been and that’s too bad because it would have been pretty special."

For eight months in 1997, Ri trained under Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s high school coach Jack Donohue in Canada. Wayne MacKinnon, chairman of Evergreen Sports Management, brought Ri and two North Korean companions to Canada, hoping to negotiate a National Basketball Association (NBA) deal for the center.

MacKinnon spent about $1,000 a day to finance Ri’s training and provided a huge green van for him to use. The lettering on the van’s door panels read: "Official Transportation for 7-10 Michael Ri." While Ri is measured at 7-9, another inch is no big exaggeration.

Ri was cloistered in Kanata, about 20 miles west of Ottawa, while Donohue worked on his hook shot and post moves. When he arrived in Canada, Ri could only press 95 pounds and his vertical leap was measured at only 12 inches. But after hockey trainer Loren Goldenberg put him on a high-protein, high-carbohydrate diet to complement a serious gym regimen, Ri’s body fat dropped from 18 to 15 percent and he began to squat 260 pounds. His weight ballooned from 240 to 280 pounds, mostly from muscle.

The problem was the US government refused to issue Ri a visa. The US State and Treasury departments ruled that signing Ri to an NBA contract would violate the trading-with-the-enemy law which prohibits US companies from doing business with North Korea.

Without an opportunity to earn big bucks, a dejected Ri returned to Pyongyang. "I thought if I could play in the NBA, it would contribute to friendly relations between my country and the US," said Ri, quoted by Mike Chinoy of CNN. "But my efforts have had the opposite effect. The NBA agreed for me to play so did the US Commerce department. The State department waited for six months then said no. They wanted to use me for political purposes so I just gave up. I’m a big man. I wanted to test my ability. I am not interested in money or politics. As a sportsman, I just wanted to try."

Donohue, who used to coach the Canadian national squad, said, "It’s a shame he never got the chance to play in the NBA–I think he should have had a chance and now it’s too late."

Michael Coyne, one of several agents who tried to bring Ri to the NBA, said: "People rave about Yao Ming’s shooting but I’d put Ri against him any day of the week. We’d be watching his drills and somebody would say, ‘Has anyone noticed that the guy hasn’t missed for the last 15 minutes?’ And we’re talking perfect textbook form. He was a machine from three-point line. From around 12 feet, he could turn and shoot over anyone. He was a very, very interesting prospect."

Donohue added: "He had problems with his feet and we were thinking that it might be hereditary or maybe an old injury. But it was because he had been wearing a size 19 shoe for the last 10 years when his foot size was 22. He kept trying to wear his size 19 shoe, just jamming his foot in there. At his age, he was never going to be a great, great NBA player but he would have been very effective for 10 to 15 minutes at a time."

North Korea beat the Philippines, 91-89, at the 1974 Asian Games in Tehran. The tables were turned at the Beijing Asiad in 1990 when the Philippines crushed North Korea, 98-82, even as Ri scored a game-high 28 points.

North Korea skipped the ABC meet in 1995 and reemerged to play at the Jones Cup in Taipei a year later. Ri impressed US scouts by firing 27 points against an Atlantic Coast Conference selection coached by Wake Forest University’s Russell Turner in Taipei and before long, was invited to train in Canada.

"Playing against him is like shooting through a tree," said Turner. "He shot free throws very well and he could dunk without leaving his feet but he doesn’t rebound and he doesn’t get up in the air."

Ri, employed by the Army, is a national hero in North Korea. His wife and son are celebrities, too. The oldest of three children, he was born to poor parents in Pyongyang. His father was an electrician and his mother, a housemaker.

Another North Korean standout is deadshot Pak Chon Jong who played with Ri on the 1993 ABC runner-up team. Pak, 32, is a 6-3 shooting guard. In 1990, Pak shot only nine points against the Philippines at the Beijing Asiad but he has since assumed the role of North Korea’s No. 1 outside bomber.