Known for being the very first British player to play in the NBA, John Amaechi is also for being the first undrafted player to start his very first game, with the Cavs in 1995.
He was also the first NBA player to come out in 2007, four years after his career ended in Utah. And he is most likely the first NBA player to have become a recognized psychologist in his field.
Graduated, charismatic, cultured and even unconventional in certain aspects, Amaechi is clearly not the average player.
Alpagated in the middle of the street in Manchester
Like, when he famously turned down a $17 million offer from the Lakers in 2000, opting to stay in Orlando… at $600,000 a season! To put some context, it was under the tunic of the Magic that the British pivot had had his best season, 10 points in 21 minutes, in a team whose human qualities he still praises to this day…
“I started basketball at 17,” reminds Amaechi at Dan LeBatard. “It was the first time I touched a basketball! I was wearing rugby shorts and sneakers, that’s all I had! On a rotten basket with a wall directly behind the basket. We had to set foot [sur le mur, après les layups] and we were twisting our ankles to receive each other like that… To tell the truth, it was a man in the street who grabbed me in Manchester. I came back from the library with a pile of Sci-Fi books and went to a fast food restaurant. I was walking down Market Street and trying to escape the gaze of people who passed me. Like, oh, he’s big! And this guy gets in my way and forces me to look at him. And he didn’t say to me: oh, you should play basketball, which, by the way, still happens to me to this day, despite my graying beard. [rires] ! He simply said to me: you know that you would be excellent at basketball, you? Realize, at the time, I didn’t even know what basketball was. It struck me when I had my books and my pies in my hand. Nobody, except my mother, had ever told me that I could excel in a field. No teacher, no relatives, no one. I don’t know who this person is, I never knew, but he gave me a name, Dave McLane, indicated several courts where I could play. And it started like that. »
Quickly welcomed with open arms on the grounds of Manchester, with his uncommon size in England, Amaechi flourishes thanks to the orange ball.
After 45 minutes of play, including a huge miss on the first pass we gave him (“I applauded [en ratant la balle] ») and a two-yard air ball next to the basket for his very first shot, Amaechi was beaming amid these three new friends chatting about the NBA and Los Angeles: “Yes, that’s where I want to go. You’ll see guys, I’m going to play in the NBA! »
The challenge was on.
Conquering America in the 80s
At the time, young Amaechi trained twice a week. Unable to pay for the bus tickets, he walked to a gas station where one of his teammates came to pick him up to take him to the gym. He will do this for a year, before miraculously finding a scholarship to a Jesuit high school in the depths of Ohio.
Crossing the Atlantic at the end of the 1980s, Amaechi did not know it yet, but he was also going to travel in time!
“Then I started to find out about high schools in the United States. Don’t forget, we are long before the Internet… One day, my mother brought me a book from the Fulbright Commission, and I started pointing to several high schools on the pages of the book, with a pen. Randomly ! And those are the ones I contacted, about 3,000 [300 peut-être ?]sending stamped envelopes… I introduced myself as 2m06, English and black, in that order [rires] and I want to play for your team. I had to specify black because they were going to think that Hugh Grant was going to land for a basketball scholarship [rires]. I only received three responses! One of them was from one of the best high schools in New Jersey with the coach’s signature. It simply said: We are the team that has won the most games in the history of the state of New Jersey, we do not need imports! A completely gratuitous answer: why answer!! But as I was a beta teenager, I had put British stamps on the envelopes for the return! Eventually I got an offer from Toledo St John’s, coached by Ed Heintschel, a guy incredibly terrifying but incredibly kind, a super weird combination. He was terrifying when he was on the field, running us around and on athletic tracks. But also super nice to welcome me to his home, and to his cabin on the edge of a lake in Michigan. It was crazy for me. We left in his car with automatic seat belts. I discovered that, for me, it was the future! And the air conditioning, amazing! We were going to ‘hunt’ turtles, especially trying not to get caught! »
Well received in the NBA by Scottie Pippen!
Once the culture shock is digested, Amaechi can gradually show his progress on the boards. In this case, the turning point occurred during a tournament in Florida, at the end of an interminable “road trip” 1,650 kilometers long, those which separated Toledo (in Ohio) in the North-East of the country to Ocala, in Florida.
“It was the Kingdom of the Sun Tournament in Florida. We had taken the bus from Toledo to Florida! We were installed in a Howard Johnson which had a swimming pool, it was incredible. I didn’t know that hotels could have swimming pools [rires] ! We had played against DC Dunbar. At the time, it was a side high school, with a big team. But we kicked their ass! And I had a good little game against a guy who was a prospect. This tournament changed everything for me! My mentality changed then. I knew my time was limited. I had to get serious if I wanted to achieve my goals [de NBA, promis à ses copains britanniques]. »
Passed by Vanderbilt then Penn State at the university level, Amaechi will live a difficult evening in the 1995 Draft, waiting in vain for his name to be called, and this despite more than 15 points and 9 rebounds on average in three seasons in the Big Ten.
The Great Breton will find refuge in the state which welcomed him on his arrival across the Atlantic, in Ohio, at the Cavs while the incumbent pivot, Michael Cage is experiencing several injuries. With a prestigious welcoming committee, including a certain Scottie Pippen during an exhibition match in Kansas City…
On his very first shot in the Great League, Scottie Pippen arises and propels his shot far into the stands on a masterful counter. With compliments from the Bulls champ: “Welcome to the League, rook!” »
people before money
Returning to Europe with a passage through Cholet (to relaunch), then Panathinaikos and Virtus Bologna (to show his value at the highest level), Amaechi can return to the NBA with a new status in the summer of 1999. Orlando smells the good move and it’s a “win-win” contract with the player who quite simply succeeds in his career best season, with more than 10 points at 44% success rate, including a record 31 points on March 11, 2000 to beat the Nuggets.
“Orlando was great. And not just because it was the most successful year in my career. It was a team of underdogs. I will always remember Darrell Armstrong replying to a journalist: But what are you talking about? [La progression de ‘Meech’ ne me dérange pas du tout], we will continue to climb on this horse as long as he can run and when he is tired, we will cling to another one! It’s very rare to be part of a team like this. We had no problem sharing the ball as long as we were winning games. »
Courted by the Lakers the following summer, with a big contract at stake, Amaechi favored the Magic, to the great surprise of NBA fans, but also of the general public! People before money, a strong position that perfectly characterizes John Amaechi.
A basketball player who knows how to keep reason and, better still, who has thought deeply about his own condition…
“It’s not disdain [que j’ai pour ma carrière de basketteur], it is rather an appropriate distance. Sometimes people should think about reducing their profession to its fundamentals: what do they really do for a living? To see if it makes sense, if it brings something, if it’s brilliant. Personally, I put a ball in a basket to make a living for twenty years! Afterwards, we can cite the admiring gaze of the children, the sponsorship contracts, of which I did not see the color [rires], or a whole bunch of other things, but basically I put a ball in a basket to live. And make a living out of it! But there are people listening to us who can, with their eyes and hands, repair a car, repair a machine. There are people who do this with humans, educators who work with children for example. When they crystallize their work, it gives a gem. I have no disdain [pour le basket], simply an appropriate distance. »
Photo: DR
| John Amaechi | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 1995-96 | KEY | 28 | 13 | 41.4 | 0.0 | 57.6 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 2.8 |
| 1999-00 | ENT | 80 | 21 | 43.7 | 16.7 | 76.6 | 0.8 | 2.6 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 10.5 |
| 2000-01 | ENT | 82 | 21 | 40.0 | 0.0 | 63.1 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 3.3 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 7.9 |
| 2001-02 | UTH | 54 | 11 | 32.5 | 0.0 | 63.8 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 3.2 |
| 2002-03 | UTH | 50 | 10 | 31.4 | 0.0 | 48.1 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 2.0 |
| Total | 294 | 16 | 40.3 | 7.7 | 67.1 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 6.3 | |
