Retired NBA Dallas Mavericks star Rolando Blackman was visiting with another NBA veteran, Belizean Nigel Miguel, and along with Belize basketball legend Clinton “Pulu” Lightburn they were joined on Bird’s Isle this afternoon by a number of veteran Belize basketball stars, some visiting from the U.S., for an afternoon of reminiscing on the old days and trying to look ahead to the future of basketball in Belize. Nigel will probably be using the material in a documentary of some sort, as he interviewed a number of the veteran stars on camera.
It was a fun afternoon, assisted by a few cases of Belikin beer, with lively characters like Danny Meighan keeping everyone laughing. But there were some serious moments too, as the thought was expressed, lamented, actually, that today in Belize we have old men wearing the most expensive sneakers on the basketball court in the Interoffice tournament, while many young talented players are often running the game barefoot for lack of the money to purchase footwear. The last semi-pro tournament was held way back in 2006; that’s according to the recollection of Keith Acosta; and he should know, as he won the MVP award in the last semi-pro season that year.
Regrettably, there were some notable absences from the “get together”, but it was an impromptu gathering, put together in just two days, according to Pulu, who had the idea after encountering his old teammate and then opponent Charles Goff in Belize City, on a visit from L.A. Pulu started sending the word around, and so by around 2:30 Saturday afternoon, there were about twenty veteran stars congregating on the southwestern bleachers at Bird’s Isle, sipping beer and talking basketball and old times.
To be continued in the Wednesday issue of the Amandala.