Abe King

Abe King, Jr. is a Filipino former basketball player who was part of the champion Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) ballclub Toyota Tamaraws. He was the starting power center of 1976 MICAA Champion Crown Motors before his mother team, the Toyota Tamaraws called upon his services at the start of the 1977 PBA season. Prior to that, King was King Bedan in 1976 and was responsible in powering the San Beda Red Lions to runner-up finish in that year.

PBA career

King was an instant starter for the Tamaraws as resident power forward when Alberto "Big Boy" Reynoso retired at the end of the 1976 season. Reynoso's younger brother Cristino on the other hand was shipped to U/Tex in one of the early trades back in the PBA. Hence, King joined forces with Ramon Fernandez, Robert Jaworski, Francis Arnaiz and 1976 Rookie Of The Year Virgilio "Gil" Cortez in the starting unit of the Tamaraws (original starting forward Rodolfo "Ompong" Segura suffered a knee injury during the 1976 season that allowed Cortez to blossom that season). King became a major force to reckon with, and almost won ROY honors, barely losing to eventual winner and co-power forward Jimmy Taguines of Yco-Tanduay in a tight race. However, King proved that he had the sterner stuff and longevity as he stayed in the PBA for nearly 2 decades while Taguines retired unceremoniously sometime in the early 80's.

King's accomplishments though were somewhat diminished with the performance of his more accomplished teammates. The year after he joined the league, Jaworski ruled the roost by averaging close to triple double the entire season en route to the MVP award. In 1979, Fernandez narrowly lost out to Fortunato "Atoy" Co, Jr. in a tight MVP race that was decided by the media votes. Fernandez, though, proved that he was the best player of the season as he powered the Tamaraws to a runner up and championship finish in the succeeding two conferences. Co won the MVP title after the 1st Conference, one of the quirks of the PBA rules back then – and since Crispa won the title, the Fortune Cookie, despite ending up second to Fernandez in the stats race in the AFC, romped away with the honors.

It was in 1982 though which was considered as King's best year with Toyota. The same year when Jaworski was riding the bench because of an assortment of injuries (the Big J was already 36 by then), it was the quartet of Fernandez, Arnaiz, 1979 ROY Arnie Tuadles and King who starred in Toyota's two championships that season – the same year when Fernandez finally nailed his first of four MVP plums with King being named to the season's Mythical Five. What made King's accomplishments impressive was he did this on the other side of the game – his defense. While every player was getting recognition for their offense, King did so on defense – a skill further enhanced by his coach Edgardo Ocampo – acknowledged as the 60's best two-way player. King was the nemesis not only of the best local players around, he also took it upon himself to defend against the best imports. Norman Black, Lew Massey, Lew Brown, Clarence Kea, among others, were surprised at how a bulky local player can actually hold his own against them. Black intimated once in an interview that King was "the best local defender who ever guarded him." Alvin Patrimonio, during his peak, halcyon days of the early 90's, badly wanted an aging King to be part of Purefoods simply because he feared having King on the other side of the court defending him. Finally, a PBA player was recognized for his ability to defend players and King became the yardstick of what defenders should be in the coming years.

King finished his PBA career as one of only eight local players with more than 5,000 rebounds, 1,942 of which came from the offensive glass. He was also a three-time All-Defensive Team member. While known to be a defensive player, he did score 60 points in a game against Crispa in 1979, just in his third year in the PBA.

Out of the shadows of Jaworski and Fernandez

When Toyota disbanded prior to the start of the 1984 season, there was much hullaballoo regarding the transfer of the players to Beer Hausen, the team that bought the Silverio franchise. Jaworski and Arnaiz eventually went to Ginebra San Miguel while King became the first "franchise player" in the history of the league when he signed up with Beer Hausen's corporate rival Gold Eagle Beer. King, though, latched upon that deal with Gold Eagle Beer prior to the announcement of Toyota's disbandment making him ineligible in that "lock, stock and barrel" purchase of Basic Holdings of Toyota's franchise.

However, since King wasn't exactly a noted scorer, he needed players who can take over the offensive chores as he took it upon himself to lead the Gold Eagle team on the defensive end. Alas, since he had average players for teammates in a young Joey Loyzaga, a raw Rudy Distrito, an oft-injured Marte Saldaña, a defensive stalwart in Dante Gonzalgo, and two veterans who never made it big despite their promise at the start – Renato Lobo and Anthony Dasalla, Gold Eagle struggled big time. And since San Miguel (the mother company of Gold Eagle) was focusing its resources more on the PBL and the NCC team, Gold Eagle couldn't get the players they wanted to be competitive against the likes of Great Taste Coffee, Beer Hausen and Tanduay Rhum.

Eventually, King moved to Great Taste the succeeding year with no less than team manager Ignacio Gotao spearheading this transfer. King paradoxically found himself in unfamiliar company with past Crispa rivals Co, Bernie Fabiosa and Philip Cezar plus super rookie Allan Caidic but found the responsibilities at Great Taste lighter than when he was with Gold Eagle. He, along with Cezar, became the team's leaders as they were recognized by their peers and the younger players for their veteran smarts and skills. Ranged against the likes of Alaska's Bruise Brothers Ricky Relosa and Yoyoy Villamin, the Cezar-King combo more than held their own against the rising and younger pair of Relosa and Villamin.

But what many people don't realize is that King only had one contrapelo among the players during his time. Ironically, it turned out to be his own Toyota teammate Fernandez who knew King's moves extremely well. Ditto the other way as King was also equally successful in guarding against Fernandez although the latter had more success in their matchups. Which wasn't really surprising as King wasn't the only player that had Don Ramon as contrapelo or scourge. The top centers / power forwards back then also suffered offensively when ranged against El Presidente – Gary Vargas, Rey Lazaro, Abet Guidaben, Terry Saldaña, Manny Victorino and Dondon Ampalayo feared Fernandez like a plague. King though wasn't far behind in the intimidation factor as he was also the scourge of many slotmen.

Twilight

However, an aging King suddenly found no takers during the early 90's . Patrimonio heard of King's interest to join Tondeña and pleaded with Purefoods management to get King "at all cost." The Captain probably feared that a Chito Loyzaga was already a major headache for him at defense, what more if you add a King? Purefoods relented and signed up King for a one season contract with the Hotdogs where he played a major role as the defensive player assigned to guard the imports of the other teams. From a one season stint with Purefoods, King's contract with the team was extended to another year. He won his last two PBA championships with the Hotdogs.

King faded from the limelight in the mid-90's and decided to migrate to the United States. He was the president of the PBA Legends Foundation USA.^[1]

References