SUN RISES IN JAPAN

If you think that Houston Rockets superstar center Yao Ming is the tallest pro basketball player from China, you better think again. 7-9 Sun Mingming took the Japan Pro Basketball League by storm this past campaign. The 25 year-old Bayan, China native is coming off from his most successful season in his young pro career.

Sun averaged 7.7 ppg and 5.71 rpg in 49 outings as he led Hamamatsu Phoenix to the top of the Eastern Conference of the JBL. He is also saw action in the JBL all-star game and had compiled the most number of dunks in the 2008-09 season with a total of 67 slams. Obviously, he is taking his career to another level. “I just want to keep playing basketball. Whether it's here in Japan or in the United States, I hope to keep playing for at least 10 more years" Sun quipped.

Before joining the JBL this past season, Sun saw action in several US minor leagues toiling the United States Basketball League (USBL) with the Dodge City Legends, the American Basketball Association (ABA) with the Maryland Nighthawks and the International Basketball League (IBL) with the Grand Rapids Flight. He also had a stint with the Fuerza Regia club in the Mexican Pro League. He failed a Los Angeles Lakers tryout in 2005.

Not everyone knows that Sun suffered from a benign brain tumor which pressed his pituitary gland. The said tumor was the primary reason of his unstoppable growth due to over production of growth hormone. The tumor was successfully removed in 2005.

With the vast improvement in his game, it will not be too long before Sun joins Yao as the centers of attraction in the NBA.

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Here is one for the books. In the ongoing NBA playoffs, the oldest tandem of courtside analysts on radio coverage belongs to ESPN Radio’s Jack Ramsay and Hubie Brown. Ramsay is 84 years old and Brown is 75 years old.

Both are veteran NBA coaches and are considered legends in the mentoring world. Ramsay even won 2 NBA titles with Philadelphia in 1967 as General Manager and Portland as coach in 1977. Brown, on the other hand, spent 33 years as coach in the pro league.

From all indications, the tandem is still going very strong while enjoying their current jobs and are still far away from calling it a day. That’s staying healthy and longevity at its very best.