Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
Wednesday, May 31, 2000
NBA talent
returning to Hawaii
The Dream Team will
By Pat Bigold
play at the Stan Sheriff
Center this summer
Star-BulletinIt's been four years since Hawaii basketball fans have had a chance to see NBA talent perform here. Shaquille O'Neal was the headliner in October 1996, as he faced the Denver Nuggets in his debut with the Los Angeles Lakers at what was then called the Special Events Arena.
The drought is over.
O'Neal won't be back, but 12 of the NBA's top talents will be as the U.S. men's Olympic "Dream Team" plays nationally televised exhibitions at the renamed Stan Sheriff Center on Aug. 31 and Sept. 2.
USA Basketball made its long-awaited announcement of the game dates this morning in a release from Colorado Springs.
The Dream Team, which will train at the Lahaina Civic Center Aug. 26-Sept. 2, will face take on the Canadian National Team on Thursday, Aug. 31. The Canadians have the only other Olympic qualifier from the Americas zone. It will be a 4 p.m. game, televised on TNT.
On Saturday, Sept. 2, the Dream Team will play at 1 p.m. against the USA Basketball Select Team in a game carried by NBC.
The Select team will include top collegians like Jason Williams, Carlos Boozer and Mike Dunleavy of Duke, Kenny Satterfield of Cincinnati, Bobby Simmons of DePaul, and Nick Collison of Kansas. That game will be played as the second half of a doubleheader. At 10:30 a.m., the U.S. women's team will play Brazil.
(The U.S. women will face the USA Basketball R. Williams Jones Cup Team at 1 a..m. on Sunday, Sept. 3, at Stan Sheriff Center.) No prices or dates for ticket sales have been announced by the U.S. Olympic Committee or the University of Hawaii.
TV camera placements and a midsummer computer software update at the university ticket offices will be factors in determining the sale dates. But a USA Basketball spokesman said that inquiries may be emailed to fanmail@usabasketball.com.
The men's Olympic team will be composed of Ray Allen (Milwaukee Bucks); Vin Baker (Seattle SuperSonics); Vince Carter (Toronto Raptors); Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs); Kevin Garnett (Minnesota Timberwolves); Tim Hardaway (Miami Heat); Grant Hill (Detroit Pistons); Allan Houston (New York Knicks); Jason Kidd (Phoenix Suns); Alonzo Mourning (Miami Heat); Gary Payton (Seattle SuperSonics) and Steve Smith (Portland Trail Blazers).
Rudy Tomjanovich, Houston Rockets head coach since 1991, is the head coach.
His staff will include Philadelphia 76ers head coach Larry Brown, Purdue head coach Gene Keady and Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith.
The Olympic basketball tournament will be played from Sept. 16 to Oct. 1.
The NBA lockout of 1998 foiled the Lakers' plans to camp here that fall, and a planned exhibition involving locked out players in January 1999 was also cancelled.
The Lakers had indicated they might return to Hawaii in fall 1999 but opted not to come.
