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Possessing a grateful mentality, Chaz Franklin uses Christmas to acknowledge his blessings. The most recent rendition found the 30-year-old hoopster especially appreciative, as he spent it recollecting a joyous bit of novelty. Only two days prior to regaling his acquaintances with tales of his fortune, the guard celebrated with his teammates in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala, after their efforts brought him his initial professional title in his sixth experience with international competition.
All victories deserve praise, and the resident of 17th and Morris streets has received and distributed ample samples of gratitude for the Latin-American triumph. With 20 years of basketball involvement, he has experienced enough to know that dispensing indebtedness matters more than welcoming it.
“The time in Guatemala was magical,” the chiseled champion said Jan. 11 after an intense day of training his body in the hopes of adding another foreign club. “The title gave me the best experience of my life.”
The crown and the popularity he gained as the season unfolded would not have become prized coins in his memory bank had he not listened to youngsters who love the sport as much as Franklin did as a 10-year-old launching jumpers at DiSilvestro Playground, 1710 S. 15th St. Members of the Huntingdon Valley Lions, they last year encouraged their coach to test his frame against his peers one more time.
“I committed myself, too,” the baller, whose early dreams involved stroking shots in the NBA, said of preparing to have a chance to add to journeys in Germany, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Bosnia and Kuwait.
With seven championships in three years under Franklin, the Lions possess obvious skills and seemed like teenage versions of Nostradamus when the Guatemalan Basketball Federation signed him in mid-November. Knowledgeable of Latin American ball’s physical nature through his 2007 stint in Venezuela, he knew his workouts would serve him well. Exercising his muscles and manners brought him renown in just over six weeks of contests.
He hustled each second, an activity that often involved diving for loose balls. Gaining figurative points while gunning for literal ones, he frequently high-fived fans when his pursuits landed him in the stands.
“I had a humble mindset before going to Guatemala, but it increased when I saw how much the people appreciate life and enjoy the small things,” the sniper, who averaged 25 points and eight assists, said.
Lacking an insular mentality, he engrossed himself in the local culture, a move that endeared him to the public as it painted him the way he wanted citizens to see him, as a “regular guy.” Bonding with teammates and inhabitants deemed him customary, but dribbling, dishing and shooting proved him exceptional.
His squad’s semifinal win required the season’s biggest display of guts. Franklin led a massive comeback and iced the battle with two heartbreaking three-pointers. Avenging a regular season loss, he orchestrated a championship rout by containing his opponent’s main threat, a behemoth dubbed “Big Shaq.”
“The semifinal was bigger, but that final was so gratifying,” Franklin said.
He returned to the United States in time to give everyone a share in his surreal holiday experience and set himself the task of hoping for a seventh sojourn. He has corresponded with a Dominican team, as well as units in Chile, Egypt and El Salvador. Set to turn 31 Feb. 28, he sees 37-year-old Phoenix Sun Steve Nash, 38-year-old Dallas Maverick Jason Kidd and 47-year-old boxing champion Bernard Hopkins as influences for his desire to play at least 10 more years.
“I have discipline over my body,” Franklin, who has tabbed Spain his dream location, said. “If I stay healthy, I plan to be playing.”
Franklin knows mental stamina will assist his plans to prolong his career, as he has called on it to balance his domestic duties and wanderlust. Basketball always drives him to duel with distress diligently, and he has emerged victorious each time, scoring points that have won plaudits and learning lessons that have brought self-satisfaction.
“I look at everything as a blessing, even setbacks,” he said.
Windfall found him in ’05, when he graduated from New York’s Roberts Wesleyan College with All-American Mideast Conference distinction and a psychology degree. He showed his skills to European personnel at Syracuse University that summer, with his hops helping him to land a spot on Germany’s Mitteldeutscher Basketball Club the following August. Remaining with the bunch through early ’07, he engrossed himself in a world of curiosity and newness, a universe he still inhabits.
“Playing abroad can bring on a case of culture shock,” he said, citing ingesting horse and bull and debating the role of religion as some memorable endeavors.
He made his way to South America to compete for a Venezuelan outfit and added treks to the Dominican Republic, Bosnia and Kuwait, with the final two influencing his cultural and educational identities. The Bosnian War, waged from 1992 to ’95, left the European land suffering, with Sarajevo gravely affected. Franklin played in the capital city, gaining knowledge of the conflict’s aftermath.
“The visuals were stunning,” he said, with bullet holes in buildings and a gloomy atmosphere as indelible examples.
Kuwait is helping to lead a Middle East basketball revolution, and Franklin enjoyed a role in it, though a hand injury cut it short. The School District of Philadelphia hired him as a substitute teacher and a therapist, with his first assignment in the latter role coming at Chester A. Arthur School, 2000 Catharine St., in the ’08-09 school year.
“I offered autistic support for classes,” Franklin said of bettering students’ prospects for stability.
Compelled to uplift youths, he decided to help the Lions to roar, proving so successful that he became an assistant coach for last August’s Maccabi Games at Northeast Philadelphia’s Klein JCC.
“At that point, I was more or less out of pro basketball, but my little league team actually kept telling me I should try to play again,” Franklin said of devising a regimen that included pre-dawn track runs at Saint Joseph’s University.
A couple leagues built his confidence, and a call from a Guatemalan official sent Franklin abroad yet again. Last month’s conquest has made him even hungrier, and he labels his players inspirational figures.
“My kids are great,” he said, revealing an intent to work with children for the rest of his life and to start a youth-oriented nonprofit. “They helped me to believe in myself fully again.”
Contact Staff Writer Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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