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    Norman Black unretired to play one game as import for Pop Cola

    Few people know Black, then 40, injured himself going for a dunk during warmups
    Apr 2, 2021

    NORMAN Black had a storied stint as an import during the 1980s which became his ticket to a decorated coaching career in the PBA highlighted by the 1989 grand slam with San Miguel Beer.

    But young fans may not know that Black’s last official game as a PBA import came in the late 1990s, not quite by design.

    That came in the 1998 Commissioner’s Cup when Black, the coach of Pop Cola at that time, played for the 800s in a battle for third place against Formula Shell on August 2. But Black played not exactly because he wanted to but more out of necessity.

    “What happened was we had an import by the name of Marcus Timmons, I believe,” said the two-time PBA Best Import as he pieced together the events that led to him coming out of retirement at age 40 for a single game.

    “He actually was a pretty good player and we head up to the third-place (game) because in those days, you play for third or fourth place.”

    Because of the long break, Black said Timmons asked if he could go to Australia before the third-place playoff game due to a custody case that he had to attend to, a request that management allowed.

    “The only problem was, he never came back,” said Black.

    During those days, the PBA hands out a hefty fine to a team that didn’t field an import in a game. Without the luxury of time to search for a replacement import, Pop Cola team manager Elmer Yanga asked Black if he could be their reinforcement.

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    “I believe during this time, the PBA would fine you if you didn’t have an import. And I think it was a lot of money during that time. Mr. Elmer Yanga, who was the manager at that time of the RFM team, asked me I would be willing to just play one game."

    The grand slam coach said at that time, he was still able to join the team in practices. Although he had apprehensions, Black said he accepted the offer to play a one-off game in order to give Pop Cola a better chance at winning.

    “To be quite honest with you, I was no longer a player. I haven’t played for maybe seven or eight years since I was regular player in the PBA. But I was in decent shape. I’m not in great shape but I’m in decent shape. So I said, ‘Okay, I’ll give it a try.’

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    “The reason why I said yes was when you are coaching a team, you want to give them the best chance of winning and of course, we had a better chance of winning if we had an import," the multi-titled coach added.

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      "During those days, the battle-for-third included bonuses for the players. Since I was coaching them and they knew I can actually run up and down the court, I thought I was obligated to my players to give it a try,” said Black.

      The 800s squad, at that time, was composed of players such as Vergel Meneses, Boybits Victoria, and Bonel Balingit being joined by Ali Peek and Nic Belasco, who were in their early years in the PBA.

      “I went up against Ronnie Magsanoc, Benjie Paras, Chris Jackson, all of these guys were really good players at that time and I remember they were our opponents on that night,” he said.

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      Black said his preparation for the game was more on the mental aspect since there was little time to prepare for the match physically.

      “It was almost like at the beginning of the week, we let Marcus Timmons go home. We had six days before we play our game. By Day 4, we realized he wasn’t coming back. Basically I had a couple of days to be mentally prepared for the game,” said Black.

      Black didn't do too badly for a 40-year old. Based on his recollection, he compiled 10 points and 16 rebounds in an 84-80 win over the Zoom Masters. He admitted though that his most vivid memory of that day was during warm-ups when he injured himself, a fact not known to the team.

      “I didn’t really have the stamina that I had as a player in the PBA at that time. The one thing I can do was I can still jump. I decided I’m going to go up and I’m going to dunk the ball as hard as I can," he recalled.

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      “I go up and I attempted a 360-degree dunk and I did it well. I executed it well. I came down and I slammed it hard. And then when I hit the ground, I felt something that popped in my knee.

      [See At 61, Norman Black can still dunk - with the left hand]

      "All I can say to myself at that time was ‘You ruined your comeback.’ I was trying to do a 360-dunk in warm-ups. Even though I executed the dunk, I was never the same after that. I never told anybody. I finished the game. I believed I played 48 minutes.

      “I had 10 points and 16 rebounds and a couple of blocks but I was never the same after the dunk in warm-ups. I just didn’t tell anybody. But I was happy that we went on to win the game. We won third place,” Black said.

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      Black felt the most pain the next day when he travelled to the United States.

      “I remember it so clearly because I had to wear knee pads the entire trip. My knee really swelled up after the game. It was kind of a bittersweet experience. It was sweet because we actually won the game.

      "I didn’t play badly. I actually played okay considering I was up against Chris Jackson who was the Defensive Player of the Year. But at the same time, I injured myself at warmups, but that’s something you’re not really proud of,” Black said chuckling.

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        That third-place playoff was the last official PBA game of Black, according to statistics chief Fidel Mangonon although Black said he remembered suiting up for Sta. Lucia in an out-of-town match, maybe in 2001, when he was the coach of the Realtors.

        “I think I might have played one game with Sta. Lucia. You have to check on that. It wasn’t as clear as the Pop Cola game but I know that I might have played one game for Sta. Lucia in the province. You have to check on that.”

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        Black couldn’t recall the details of the game except for one thing.

        “After the game, I couldn’t move,” Black said.

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