NBA legends tour a sure hit

If you’re a regular Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) goer, you would’ve spotted Mario Whitmire by now.

He often watches the games beside PBA commissioner Noli Eala.

Mario’s a hoops addict. And he loves the game so much that he’s staking $300,000 (that’s dollars, not pesos) to bring in a bunch of National Basketball Association (NBA) legends for a two-game series against PBA stars next month.

Mario, 52, is even taking bets on which team will win, with the loser shaving his head.

It doesn’t matter if Mario’s nucleus is composed of NBA stars in their twilight years–7-0 Kevin Willis, 43, 6-7 Dennis Rodman, 44, 6-11 Darryl Dawkins, 49,

6-4 Otis Birdsong, 50, 6-7 Alex English, 52 and 5-9 Calvin Murphy, 57.

Mario’s sure the visitors won’t be embarrassed. Birdsong, for instance, is guaranteeing 30 points a game. English and Murphy will be good for at least 20 apiece. Rodman says he’ll play at least 20 minutes, which means he’s not coming for a vacation. Willis just retired from the NBA last season so he’s still fresh from the battlegrounds. And Dawkins is determined not to shame his patron, Filipino Sam Unera.

Aside from the five NBA legends, Mario is bringing in Sidney Moncrief as coach. Moncrief is reportedly in China on a one-month coaching contract and knows the international game like the palm of his hand. Mario and Moncrief are good friends and they’re both excited to make a big splash in their first overseas mission.

Mario, a Dallas native, met and married his Filipina wife, Terry Magistrado of Iriga City, in San Francisco in 1972. The couple is blessed with three children–April, 30, Eric, 27 (who went to school at Texas Christian University with Red Bull import James Penny), and Shaena, 26.

Although he’s been married to a Filipina for 33 years, Mario first visited the Philippines only in 1988. Since then, the Whitmires have become frequent balikbayans. Last year, for instance, they took five trips to the country.

Whitmire, who served in the US Navy for eight years, is involved in packaging tours surrounding big sporting events like the Final Four, the Super Bowl and the Masters. He is also engaged in promoting Filipino multi-media artist Marissa Andal’s works in the US. Andal survived three delicate brain surgeries and is being supported by Whitmire in producing high quality art pieces. Whitmire’s wife is a retired nurse.

Whitmire said he initially thought of an NBA legends tour in Manila last year and was convinced it would be a success because of the Filipinos’ passion for the game.

"From what I’ve observed, there are three things in life that are most important to a Filipino–God or the Church, family and basketball," said Whitmire. "So I talked to my friends about getting a group together for a tour. I’ve known Sidney for over 10 years. One by one, we began to put the pieces together. This wouldn’t have been possible without my friend Michael Halbrooks and my son Eric who’re contributing a lot to make this project happen."

Whitmire said 1986 NBA slam-dunk champion Spud Webb and former Los Angeles Lakers guard Norm Nixon were in the early lineup.

"Spud’s been a close friend for about 20 years but when it got difficult dealing with him, we moved on," said Whitmire. "Norm would’ve liked to join but couldn’t back out of a previous commitment. Darryl promised to work back into shape."

Of the recruits, Rodman was the prize catch. Whitmire said he finalized a deal with Rodman’s agent Darren Prince a few months ago.

Although Whitmire declined to disclose details, he hinted that Rodman’s fee is the equivalent of about a third of the $300,000 budget to bring in the NBA legends.

Rodman led the NBA in rebounding in seven seasons and played on five championship teams, two with Detroit and three with Chicago. Willis played for seven teams in 21 NBA seasons and was on San Antonio’s 2003 title team. Murphy averaged 17.9 points in 13 seasons and holds the league’s single-season record for highest free throw percentage at .958 in 1981. English led the NBA in scoring with a 28.4 clip in 1982-83 and played for four teams in 15 seasons.

Birdsong averaged 18 points in 12 seasons and played in four All-Star Games. Dawkins played for four teams in 14 seasons and was known as "Chocolate Thunder" for his rim-rattling dunks.

Reinforcing the legends will be four to six pro prospects from the NBA Developmental League to be chosen by Birdsong. Whitmire said the prospects, whom he described as the "horses" in the team and players on the brink of breaking into the majors, will be open to talk to PBA coaches about the possibility of playing as imports in the next Fiesta Conference.

Whitmire added to deepen the bench. Moncrief might pick up two to four players from the Philippine Basketball League team Harbour Centre, a prospective sponsor of the tour.

Aside from playing two games, the legends will conduct four training camps for kids. Rodman has committed to participate in at least one of the camps.

The first game is scheduled on April 27 in either Cagayan de Oro or Iloilo, wherever the PBA will hold its All-Star extravaganza. The second is set on May 1 at the Araneta Coliseum.

Several options are being studied as to which team to oppose the legends. A possibility is to pit the Philippine team, coached by Chot Reyes, against the visitors. Another possibility is for the PBA North All-Stars and the South All-Stars to take turns playing the team. Still another possibility is to suit up the San Miguel All-Stars, composed of Hector Calma, Samboy Lim and Allan Caidic, for a game.

"We’ll be ready to play whatever team," said Whitmire. "We’re determined to push through with this project. The legends want to play and the fans want to see them play. This is going to be a heckuva series that will long be talked about."