Revenge of the Nerd - multi-talented John Amaechi of the Orlando Magic

Basketball Digest, Jan, 2001 by Tim Povtak

Erudite Orlando center John Amaechi relishes his standing as the most unique player in the NBA

HE CARRIES A LAPTOP COMPUTER almost everywhere he goes, updating his Web site regularly. He reads books on child psychology. He visits art galleries and museums. He looks for seminars to attend when his team has an off-day on the road. He writes poetry--and he writes it well.

Yes, John Amaechi plays basketball in the NBA, but he isn't really a basketball player. He is a Renaissance Man. The Orlando Magic have uncovered a real breath of fresh air.

Amaechi is bidding to become one of the better centers in the Eastern Conference this season, yet basketball actually bores him. He would rather be talking French with Atlanta Hawks center Dikembe Mutombo than talking trash with Detroit Pistons center Eric Montross.

He would rather be sipping tea in his favorite coffee shop than scouting one of his rivals on television. His life is too short to be consumed by a game. There is little passion to his play, but a wonderful love for his life.

"Basketball does not define me," he says. "It's my occupation for now, but it's not my definition."

Raised in Manchester, England, he is the first player from Great Britain to play in an NBA regular-season game. And he also is arguably the league's most intellectual player.

Amaechi, 29, is unique in many ways. After a stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 1995-96 season, he played in Europe, before returning for a final shot in the NBA last season with the Magic. He made the most of it, surprising everyone with his success when he averaged 10.5 points, going from training-camp fodder to reliable backup to starter by midseason.

It was even more surprising last summer when he turned down a five-year, 817 million deal with the world champion Los Angeles Lakers to return to Orlando for a second season, even when the Magic could pay him only a fraction ($600,000) of what the Lakers could because of a quirk in a NBA's collective bargaining agreement. And the Lakers weren't the only ones banging on his door last summer. Decent centers were at a premium.

"Despite the 3,000 or so hate mails I received from Lakers fans, and people asking me if I was on some kind of mind-altering substance when I made the decision, I believe it was a sound one to stay," Amaechi says. "Maybe it wasn't a decision that a financial advisor would make, but that's not why I play basketball. This team needed me more than the Lakers did. This also was the first team that actually believed in me. And that should count for something. I couldn't reward their loyalty with desertion."

Amaechi is hoping to be the front-court presence Orlando needs to supplement its newly acquired perimeter game of Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill. He believes the Magic will be a serious contender in the Eastern Conference if he can produce like he did a season ago.

Although he is listed as the team's starting center, he also is the team's computer expert, ready to advise his teammates on Web sites and software. He's also willing to guide his coaches on raising their children and able to counsel anyone on expanding their horizons.

"Please don't make me out to be too big of a geek," Amaechi says. "Sure, I have some nerdish tendencies, but that's just me."

Although the NBA is peppered with players who are there only because it's a very lucrative profession, Amaechi might be the only one who openly admits it. He is a mercenary at times, knowing the money he makes now will allow him to proceed with a plan he set for himself many years ago. He currently is working on his doctorate in child psychology from Penn State, hoping to one day open his own practice when he returns to England.

"I'm going to be a better child psychologist than I ever could be a basketball player," he says, matter of factly. "In the grand scheme of things, I was never really designed to be an athlete. I don't jump very well. I'm not athletic. I watch in awe when I see some of the things these guys in the league do. Hey, I don't even like to sweat."

Although he sounds fortunate to even be in the league, Amaechi has a chance to become an NBA All-Star this season. The trade of Patrick Ewing from the New York Knicks to the Seattle SuperSonics, the season-ending kidney ailment of the Miami Heat's Alonzo Mourning, and the retirement of the Indiana Pacers' Rik Smits has left the Eastern Conference without a dominant big man.

"Who else is out there?" Amaechi asks. "Considering where I came from, being an All-Star would be an unbelievable achievement. I'd be speechless, which is pretty tough for me to do. I don't even know how that process works, but if it happened, it would be wonderful."

He might lack the overall athletic ability that others have, but he is a cerebral player who has developed a post game that can make him a reliable scorer. He is big, strong, and smart enough to play well enough to stay in the league--if he desires.

"I'm really not a fan of the game, and I'm not keen on this NBA lifestyle. I'm part of the NBA, but I've never been part of the NBA psyche," he says. "I was never good enough in basketball for it to be fun as a youngster. For me to make it, basketball had to be treated like a business."