Life in the ABA | Hoops and dreams

AUBURN -- Rick Turner was one of us. He was a sports reporter, hanging out with the rest of us in clubhouses and locker rooms. Living for the sound bites that were the spice of his professional life.

He worked as a reporter and producer at KJR. He did play-by-play for the Bellingham Mariners of the Northwest League, which also meant he drove the team bus. Eventually he became the Sonics' director of broadcasting.

He was in the business for more than 10 years, but Turner knew he had another calling. His passion was pushing him elsewhere.

"I covered the Mariners for KJR in the early 1990s," Turner said, "and a lot of those players treated me like I was the gum at the bottom of their shoes. I didn't really like that feeling and I knew that wasn't what I wanted to continue to do.

"I decided I didn't want to cover guys. I wanted to be covered. I want to create the news. I don't want to report it. I wanted to scratch that competitive itch that just wouldn't go away."

Turner wanted to be a basketball coach. It felt as familiar to him as breathing. He believed it was in his blood, even in his extended family. His father-in-law, Gary Wortman, was an assistant coach and scout with the Sonics and the Atlanta Hawks.

He decided to follow his instincts, and in 1997 he left broadcasting and started chasing a dream that was as elusive as a hummingbird.

"I just decided to take this leap of faith into coaching," Turner said last week before his American Basketball Association team, the King County Royals, played the Big Valley Shockwave from Modesto, Calif. "I dropped everything and said, 'I'm taking a serious run at this.' And I've been swimming upstream in the coaching ranks ever since, because I don't have a pedigree behind me of working for this guy and that guy."

Slowly, painfully slowly, Turner has been making his way through the murky waters of his chosen profession.

He started his career as a volunteer assistant at Bellevue Community College, then became the athletic director and head coach.

"My friends call me the Gregg Popovich of community college," Turner jokingly said, "because I hired myself."

After three winning seasons at BCC, he became a volunteer assistant for Lorenzo Romar in Romar's second season at Washington, the first of three consecutive seasons that ended in trips to the NCAA tournament.

"That really lit my fire," Turner said.

He took that fire to the ABA and was coach of the year in 2005. This is his third season in the league.

Turner, 38, is a dreamer in a league full of dreamers -- players who refuse to stop chasing their dreams. He is calling plays and diagramming sets for the Marco Polos of hoops.

"I feel like I'm pretty much self-taught," he said. "I've had a lot of on-the-job training. It's been kind of a learn-as-you-go process. Now I feel I'm at a place where, if I don't stop running, I'm going to get thrown off the treadmill, so that's why I'm here."

It's a glamour-free existence. There were four fans in the stands at last week's game, and one was center Jackie Jones' 2-year old son, who also handed out cups of water during timeouts.

But if you love the gym, love teaching and coaching, love the idea there is another game plan to prepare, this is where a dreamer has to go.

Most of the Royals players have been making their livings playing overseas. The best-known among them is former Washington guard Jamie Booker, who, at 31, has played with the Harlem Globetrotters and in Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Italy, Korea, Japan, Germany and Mexico.

Booker's nephew, Roy Booker, who had contract problems with a club in Turkey earlier this season, joined the Royals several weeks ago.

"Basketball is in my blood right now, but lately I have been thinking a little bit about my future," Jamie Booker said. "I've thought about going back to school, or becoming a personal trainer or getting my real-estate license. But I've still got a few years of ball left in me.

"I can't understand it. I can't explain why I love this game, but I think it's just embedded in me. I just love playing and until it starts feeling too much like a job, I think I'll keep playing. Right now I'm having fun playing with these young guys."

Randy Green, who played last season at Washington State, was one of the last cuts in last summer's trials in the NBDL, the NBA's developmental-league affiliate.

Jones was a longtime star in Korea's professional league. And Rainier Beach grad Tim Ellis, who just showed up in the Royals' locker room before a game, recently finished a full season in Iceland's league. He is expecting to play next season in either Italy or Germany.

"My dream is to play in the NBA, just like everyone else's is," Ellis said. "I feel like I can bring something to the table. This gives me a chance to keep working hard, stay in shape and, hopefully, fulfilling my dream."

This league is as far away from the bright lights as community theater is from Broadway.

"You come out here and there's not a soul in the gym," Green said. "But you have to realize that everybody here has the same dream as you and they all want to bring it to you. It's not hard for me to get excited for these games because I know there's a goal I have. I just have to catch a break."

The players make $100 a game. The ABA is a place for them to get a run in before their next trip overseas, or their next invitation to an NBDL trial. It's an audition hall, another place to feed their compulsion.

"You're not here for the fans. You're here to play basketball," said Ellis, who played at Kansas State. "Some players want to play for the crowd, but some guys just want to lace the shoes up and get a win. If the crowd's here, or not, you still have to play the game."

There are 45 teams in the ABA, based from Bellingham to Beijing, from Brooklyn to Tijuana. The Royals play their home games at North Seattle Community College, although because of a scheduling conflict last week, their game with Big Valley was played at Green River Community College.

Players come and go in a whim. Former Husky Jamaal Williams played one game for King County this season. Only one player, Green, has been with the team all season. The Royals, who are 5-11, have been playing better since their roster has stabilized.

"It's a crazy existence, living in the ABA," said Turner, who also is paid $100 per game. "It's a Wild West sort of deal."

Turner interviewed for coaching positions in the NBDL, and was told he didn't have a big enough name. He interviewed for college Division I jobs and even was offered an assistant's job, but it paid only $13,000. Still, he would have taken that job if the coach had allowed him to live in one of the college's dorms.

Last summer he worked for Kenmore Air, loading luggage. And he has a real-estate license as part of a life-after-basketball backup plan.

"I'm soul searching right now," Turner said. "I feel like I'm coming to a crossroads. I have to decide, 'What am I doing here?' I'd like to not have to worry about scheduling conflicts, or travel arrangements. I'd like to not have to wash the uniforms, or worry if the P.A. guy was going to show up.

"But I haven't hitched my wagon to another coach, like a lot of guys do. I've tried to do it on my own and it's more difficult than I thought it would be.

"It's hard to blaze your own trail in this game. I've worked so hard just to get to this point. I know I'm really good at this. I feel I would be valuable to some organization. Right now I just have my fingers crossed and I'm grinding and hoping I can catch a break."

Rick Turner wants a spot in the gym. He wants to make a decent living doing what he loves. This dreamer coach in a dreamer's league has earned a chance at something more.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com