SEAN CHAMBERS IS BACK

Sean Chambers, one of the
best PBA imports of all-time.

They call him “Captain America” but he is more popularly known in the Philippine basketball circles as “Mr. 100%”. Yes, Sean Chambers, one of the most hardworking imports in PBA history, is back in the country. The 6-1 Sacramento native is scheduled to attend the 25^th Anniversary Grand Reunion of the Alaska Milk franchise on September 28. Chambers first played for a PBA guest team, the visiting LA Jaguars, in 1987. He is best remembered for his rousing victory over PBA legend Billy Ray Bates in a slam dunk showdown. He began his Alaska Milk career in 1989 and played his last conference with the Aces in 2001. Among his memorable stints with Alaska includes the 1996 grand slam year and the day his jersey was finally retired by the Uytengsu franchise five years later. Chambers was an extraordinary kind of import. He is the only 6-1 reinforcement to effectively play in a PBA conference where the import limit is 6-6. In a lengthy interview with Bill Velasco of the PhiStar.com, Chambers reminisced the good memories and acknowledged how thankful he was for playing for a champion team like Alaska Milk. Chambers now works as vice-principal in a middle school in his hometown of Sacramento, California.

“It was amazing. People were like “Chumbers!” (how his name was commonly mispronounced back in the 1990’s), and kept asking me if I was going to play for Alaska.   People kept asking me if I was going to play, like it was back in the ‘90’s. Man, I haven’t played in six years.

“I had never even heard of the country when I came here, to be honest. We played in Japan, Korea and other countries, and they were nice. But when I was walking around and talking to people, I just felt that this was home to me.

“I was kind of disappointed in myself when I tried out for Charlotte, because I was intimidated, I was overwhelmed, I had no confidence. So the whole flight to Manila, I was telling myself, ‘You gotta believe in yourself. You gotta believe in yourself. You gotta believe in yourself.” I was really determined.

“I wanted to experience that, be part of a Grand Slam team. Every time I would leave the Philippines, my whole mindset would be to spend the off-season preparing to come back. I would train like a madman. And I would also try to see what other imports were doing, so I could do more things to push myself to a higher level.

“It was my first time experience being part of a team with Alaska. In those days, when your American got hit with a hard foul and fell to the floor, it happened all the time. With Alaska, when I would be the recipient of a hard foul, all 12 of my guys would be up off the bench, have my back, ready to go. They’d be like ‘He’s our teammate, and that’s not happening.’ And I never had to ask them to.

“I just feel so blessed to have played in two conferences of the Grand Slam. It became even more special that I was a part of two championships in ‘96. And it was with my guys, Jojo (Lastimosa), Johnny (Abarrientos) and Bong (Hawkins). I was close to all those guys, from the twelfth man to the top players.”