Celtic hero to visit Manila

Glenn McDonald, the hero of the Boston Celtics’ classic 128-126 triple overtime win over Phoenix in the 1976 National Basketball Association (NBA) finals, is arriving in Manila tomorrow for a sentimental one-week visit with wife Renee.

McDonald, 54, played and coached in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) from 1978 to 1983. Since leaving the PBA, McDonald continued to be involved in basketball as Long Beach State’s varsity coach for women and the Los Angeles Sparks’ assistant coach in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). Today, he is a scout for the Utah Jazz and the athletic director at Long Beach State, his alma mater.

McDonald and his wife will be house guests of Rajan and Apples Sadhwani in Bel-Air Village, Makati. McDonald was Sadhwani’s best man when he got married to the popular fashion model Apples Aberin in 1997.

The coming visit will be McDonald’s third to Manila since ending his PBA career. He was here in 1995 to train the Mobiline team for two weeks and again in 1997, for Sadhwani’s wedding.

"I met Glenn when I was doing marketing work for Le Tigre shirts and he was playing in the PBA," said Sadhwani. "We became close friends and never lost contact. Whenever I visit Los Angeles, I always call on Glenn."

It was McDonald who put Sadhwani in contact with another PBA veteran Francois Wise in Los Angeles. Now a policeman, the burly Wise is assigned to Shaquille O’Neal’s security detail when the Miami Heat center is in L. A.

"When Glenn played in the PBA, imports were quite popular because the good ones kept coming back," said Sadhwani. "Guys like Wise and Lew Massey were celebrities. Lately, a lot of imports just come and go because they’re replaced so often, making it difficult for fans to identify with many of them."

McDonald found a second home in the Philippines. His son Michael was born here, played for Stanford University and once tried out for the Sacramento Kings as a 6-1 guard. The McDonalds’ only other child Alexis played volleyball at Washington State.

McDonald attended Jefferson High in Los Angeles then moved to Long Beach State where in 1971-72, he averaged 5.5 points as a sophomore under coach Jerry Tarkanian and the varsity posted a 25-4 record. The next season, McDonald sat out part of the campaign due to injuries but managed to improve his scoring clip to 7.3 as new coach Lute Olson led the 49ers to a 26-3 mark and a fifth consecutive Pacific Coast Athletic Association title.

As a senior, McDonald hit at an 11.5 clip. The 49ers registered a 24-2 record but failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament due to a probation penalty. Long Beach extended its home win streak to 77 games, finishing the 1973-74 season with 12 straight victories. The varsity yielded only 61.1 points a game, ranking eighth in the NCAA in defense, and scored a 65-64 decision over the University of San Francisco whose team was bannered by future pros Kevin Restani and Phil Smith.

McDonald’s collegiate exploits caught the attention of the Celtics front office. Boston general manager Red Auerbach said, "One thing I liked about Glenn was the way his college coach never took him out — he was the guy who held Long Beach together."

Celtics coach Tommy Heinsohn said, "Glenn’s fast, has good hands and can shoot — he has excellent size for the backcourt, great speed for the front." It was no surprise the Celtics picked McDonald on the first round in the 1974 NBA draft.

Playing behind John Havlicek, McDonald averaged 2.7 points in 62 games as a Celtic rookie. Slowly, he polished his style, learning the art of shooting and faking from Don Nelson, defense from Paul Silas and forward play from Havlicek.

In 1975-76, McDonald raised his scoring norm to 5.6. He will forever be remembered as the Celtics hero in the finals that season. 

In Game 5, McDonald came off the bench to score six points and grab a key rebound in the Celtics’ triple overtime win over Phoenix.  Boston rode on the momentum of the big win to clinch the crown in Game 6.

"Have I ever played in three overtimes before?" said McDonald. "I barely played in one overtime. But the pressure didn’t bother me because if I was worried about it, I’d have screwed up. I finally got a chance to play and coach Heinsohn had confidence in me. All you can say about this game is that Celtic pride paid off."

Ironically, McDonald was cut by the Celtics before the next season. He was picked up from waivers by Milwaukee. McDonald played only nine games for the Bucks before winding up his three-year NBA career.

In the PBA, McDonald played on two U-Tex title squads under coach Tommy Manotoc. His most memorable conference was in the 1980 Open where he teamed with Aaron James to tow U-Tex to a come-from-behind win over Toyota in the best-of-five finals. In 1981, McDonald coached U-Tex to a runner-up finish in the Reinforced All-Filipino conference. He called the shots for the Wranglers up to 1982. 

In 1983, McDonald made a playing comeback in the PBA but saw action in only two games for Manhattan which he also coached. 

McDonald is in the PBA history books as the first import to coach in the league. Among his U-Tex teammates were Bogs Adornado, Fritz Gaston, Jimmy Noblezada, Rudy Hines and Lim Eng Beng.

To the McDonalds, welcome back to your second home.