When legends meet

CEBU, Philippines — Eight-year NBA veteran and once the highest-paid basketball player in Europe Josh Childress wasn’t born yet when Yoyong Martirez played on the Philippine team at the 1972 Munich Olympics. But when they met up during the recent EASL Final Four here, there was instant connection between the two cage legends.

Martirez, 72, was a little tongue-tied and talked about how exciting the EASL games were while Childress, 40, just shook his hand, adding that he read about the Munich Games where the US team lost to Russia by a point on a disputed buzzer-beating layup from a length-of-the-court inbound pass in the last three seconds that were replayed thrice until the basket was made.

Childress flew in from Los Angeles to witness the Final Four as an EASL Ambassador. It was his third visit to the country after stops in Manila and Boracay during brief breaks when he played in the Japanese B-League. Childress said he would’ve enjoyed playing in the PBA and in his prime, asked his agent to look into the possibility. His only foreign stints after the NBA were in Australia and Japan.

The 6-8 forward was Atlanta’s first round pick, sixth overall, in the 2004 NBA draft. He played in 391 games, averaging 9.1 points, with Atlanta, Phoenix, Brooklyn and New Orleans until 2013. Childress saw action in three seasons with Stanford University and before ending his NBA career, went back to school to earn his sociology degree. Education is a priority for Childress who said “whatever I start, I aim to finish.”

Childress said he played with several well-known teammates like Grant Hill, Steve Nash, LA Clippers coach Tyronn Lue and players still active in the pros, including Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday, Brook Lopez, Josh Richardson and Al Horford. He named Zaza Pachulia and Marvin Williams as his closest teammates. Gilas naturalized player Andray Blatche and former PBA import Earl Barron were also teammates. To this day, he stays in touch with Lue and Portland coach Chauncey Billups, Patrick Beverley and CJ McCollum. He grew up with another former NBA player Jamal Sampson, who once tried out for Gilas as a naturalized prospect, and teamed with ex-PBA import Robert Dozier in