Strong Group Athletics (SGA) is set to parade a rock-solid roster powered by former National Basketball Association (NBA) stars when it competes in the Dubai International Basketball Championship that opens on 24 January next year.
Multiple sources claimed that the club owned by distinguished businessman Frank Lao is eyeing former NBA All-Stars Dwight Howard, John Wall and Isaiah Thomas as well as versatile forward Lance Stephenson when they shoot for the title in the prestigious Middle East event.
The list of prospects didn’t come as a surprise.
After a stellar 18-year NBA career that made him an eight-time NBA All-Star and an NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, Howard embarked on an Asian campaign when he suited up for the Taoyuan Leopards in the Chinese Basketball Association and the Taiwan Mustangs in fledgling The Asian Tournament.
If plans do not miscarry, the center nicknamed “Superman” for his rebounding and shot-blocking prowess will return to SGA after helping it emerge as runner-up last year with fellow former NBA standouts Andray Blatche and Andre Roberson as reinforcements.
Wall, Thomas and Stephenson are also expected to sign up.
After all, Wall and Thomas had already wrapped up their respective NBA careers marred by knee injuries while Stephenson is looking for a perfect landing spot after playing in China, Puerto Rico and the NBA G League. At one point, Stephenson even played against the TNT Tropang Giga during the East Asia Super League Terrific 12 in 2019.
The source said negotiations are still in full swing but the club will definitely parade a solid roster just like what it did last year.
“They’re still working on it right now,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity for lack of authority from the management.
“But what I can say is that there will be NBA players on the SGA roster this year.”
In a television interview, SGA team manager Jacob Lao said they are primed to parade a very solid team.
After all, the pain of losing the title to Lebanese powerhouse Al-Riyadi by a slim margin, 74-77, last year still lingers so they have to find a way to bounce back, starting with recruiting players who can help them win the title.
“We didn’t like the results last year. We ended up in the quarterfinals. Winners kami eh, we want to compete,” said Lao, whose squad was bolstered by the best college players in the country in JD Cagulangan, Justine Baltazar and Kevin Quiambao last year.
“If we’re gonna do it, we might as well make big waves out of it, so that’s why we recruited Dwight, we recruited Andray Blatche, we recruited Andre Roberson and the college kids.”
The younger Lao said chemistry will not be a problem as the Dubai event is just a short tournament.
“With the way I see it in practices and games, I think that chemistry is not gonna be a problem,” Lao said.
“It’s more of how we’re gonna take care of ourselves going into Dubai because the tournament is really short, it’s really squeezed.”
The squad will start training around mid-January under the watchful eyes of College of Saint Benilde mentor Charles Tiu.