Meeting the real McCoy

Jelani McCoy is not a Fil-Am. Remember McCoy? He was the subject of discussion sometime ago because this young talented NBA player was supposed to have Filipino roots. Jelani is currently with the world champion Los Angeles Lakers.

Well, on the eve of Game 1, after speaking with Samaki Walker and introducing myself as a broadcaster from the Philippines, McCoy asked if he could talk to me.

The very first question he threw my way was, "Would you know what ‘sasalin kita’ means?" I said "What? " He replied: "It sounded like ‘sasalin kita’."

I answered " You might be asking ‘sasampalin kita,’". "Yes!" he exclaimed and I promptly told him it meant "I’ll slap you or I’ll smack you. "He was so thankful.

I asked him when and where he heard that and he explained that growing up, his best friend was a Filipino and when they were messing around his friend’s house, his friend’s mom would always yell "sasampalin kita!" at them.

I then told him about the talk in the country about him possibly playing as a local and he said, "sorry but I’m not Filipino."

For the record, McCoy would have ripped through the league. He was a second round draft pick, 33rd over-all by Seattle in 1998 with career averages of 4.5 points, 3.3 rebounds in 14.4 minutes in 154 games with a field goal percentage of .574. He had career highs of 15 points and 11 rebounds.

McCoy was fantastic in his college career at UCLA. His shooting percentage of 69.4 percent broke Bill Walton’s school record. He recorded the school’s first triple double ever when he got 15 points, 10 rebounds and 11 blocked shots versus Maryland on December 9, 1995. In his sophomore season, he shot 75.6 percent from the field, a Pac-10 record.

Watch Game 2 of the NBA Finals 2002 telecast of Solar, ultimate suspense and action over NBN Channel 4 at 8:30 a.m.