Sean Chambers memories

The PBA’s longest-tenured import who didn’t live in the Philippines is back.

Sean Chambers, who suited up for Alaska for over a decade, arrived early Friday morning to attend the reunion of Alaska players as part of the team’s launch of its 25th year in the PBA. Chambers, who was also one of the first imports (along with Ateneo head coach Norman Black) to be a Milkman, was immediately recognized upon landing at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

“It was amazing. People were like “Chumbers!” (how his name was commonly mispronounced back in the 1990’s), and kept asking me if I was going to play for Alaska,” said the 44-year old Chambers in an interview with The STAR. “People kept asking me if I was going to play, like it was back in the ‘90’s. Man, I haven’t played in six years.”

Chambers was inducted into the Cal Poly Hall of Fame in 2005 after averaging 18.3 points per game for the Mustangs as a senior in 1987, and led the school to two California Collegiate Athletic Association titles. Chambers originally gained fame in the Philippines as a member of the IBAF selection that played an exhibition series in the PBA, beating the legendary Billy Ray Bates in a slam-dunk contest.

“I had never even heard of the country when I came here, to be honest,” Chambers recalled. “We played in Japan, Korea and other countries, and they were nice. But when I was walking around and talking to people, I just felt that this was home to me.”

Back in the US, Chambers attended the Charlotte Hornets’ rookie camp and was cut. On his way back to California, he received a page at the airport (there weren’t that many cell phones back then). When he picked up the phone, he was told that a professional team in the Philippines wanted to hire him as an import, and would he fly out the next day? After a quick phone call to his mother, Sean was on his way to becoming an Alaska Milkman.

“I was kind of disappointed in myself when I tried out for Charlotte, because I was intimidated, I was overwhelmed, I had no confidence,” Sean remembers clearly. “So the whole flight to Manila, I was telling myself, ‘You gotta believe in yourself. You gotta believe in yourself. You gotta believe in yourself.” I was really determined.”

That recollection seems ironic, considering that Chambers is one of only two imports to have ever received the “Mr. 100 Percent” award.

That year, Chambers helped the Milkmen win their first-ever PBA championship, the 1991 Third Conference title. But more importantly, he served as the bridge between the older, more established players, and the younger ones coming into the league having had more modern training. Chambers saw that this collection of talented individuals was good, but needed to become a unified force to become great. He has also seen first-hand how San Miguel Beer claimed a Grand Slam in 1989, and felt a stirring in his heart.

“I wanted to experience that, be part of a Grand Slam team,” adds Chambers, now a middle school vice-principal in Sacramento. “Every time I would leave the Philippines, my whole mindset would be to spend the off-season preparing to come back. I would train like a madman. And I would also try to see what other imports were doing, so I could do more things to push myself to a higher level.”

The 1996 Grand Slam campaign of Alaska became even more special for Chambers, although unexpectedly. After the Milkmen won their first All-Filipino championship at the expense of perennial champion Purefoods, they were on a strong run at the title in the Commissioner’s Cup, where imports were 6’6” and below. Unfortunately, midway through the tournament, their import was sent home after having found to have traces of marijuana in his urine. As usual, in an emergency, they called in Sean Chambers.

“If we had brought in another import, a big import, we would have had to teach him our system from scratch,” says former power forward Bong Hawkins. “With Sean, he already knew our system, and we knew he would give us his best. After that, the third conference (the Governors Cup) was the Sean Chambers Conference.”

“It was my first time experience being part of a team with Alaska,” Chambers declares. “In those days, when your American got hit with a hard foul and fell to the floor, it happened all the time. With Alaska, when I would be the recipient of a hard foul, all 12 of my guys would be up off the bench, have my back, ready to go. They’d be like ‘He’s our teammate, and that’s not happening.’ And I never had to ask them to.”

After facing the unexpected Shell and powerhouse Kenny Redfield in the Finals, Alaska managed to change their mindset from playing Ginebra, and annexed their second title. With Chambers already here, they had a huge advantage in the Governors Cup, which featured imports 6’2” and below.

“I just feel so blessed to have played in two conferences of the Grand Slam,” Chambers says. “It became even more special that I was a part of two championships in ‘96. And it was with my guys, Jojo (Lastimosa), Johnny (Abarrientos) and Bong (Hawkins). I was close to all those guys, from the twelfth man to the top players.”

And all those memories have come back to life for Sean Chambers, in the country of his greatest triumphs as a basketball player.