Will NBA say ‘Give me Liberty?’

Victoria Sun

Tuesday, Feb. 29, 2000 | 10:16 a.m.

At 31, the clock is ticking for Marcus Liberty, and he knows it.

But the Las Vegas Silver Bandits' reserve forward isn't fearful of the fact that today's NBA seems to be dominated by younger talents, such as Los Angeles Lakers swingman Kobe Bryant, the Boston Celtics' Paul Pierce and the Chicago Bulls' Elton Brand.

He isn't blinded by the fact that super-athletic guys, including Toronto Raptors forwards Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter, are slowly becoming the norm and not the exception in the league.

Liberty thinks there is still a place for him in the NBA and draws hope from the veterans who grind it out every night.

It's this hope that keeps him playing the game he loves in the International Basketball League instead of calling it quits.

"You know, a lot of guys in the NBA motivate me," he said one morning after practice. "I look at Mario Elie (of the San Antonio Spurs), he's almost 40 years old, and I mean he's still playing.

"So I think if I can take care of my body, eat the right things and don't go out eating fast food and getting my body all out of shape, then I think I can make it.

"If it doesn't happen this year, then maybe next year. I'm going to still stay positive about it."

Positive, but realistic.

For every 31-year-old Elden Campbell or Toni Kukoc still in the NBA, there are dozens of other guys just like Liberty playing overseas, in the Continental Basketball Association or in some other league such as the IBL, trying their best to latch on with an NBA team.

Liberty has added some muscle to his 6-foot-8 frame and contends he is in great shape. In 24 appearances, he is averaging 10.7 points and 4.3 rebounds off the bench.

He spent the last five years playing in France, Greece, Puerto Rico, Turkey, Sweden and Japan before joining the Silver Bandits in December. He admits that playing in Las Vegas is a vehicle for him, hopefully to get him back to the place where he seemed destined to shine, but ultimately foundered.

"If someone tells you they're not doing that, something is wrong," Liberty said. "Because I'm pretty sure the starting five on our team is trying to get back to the NBA.

"I think everyone is trying to get to the top level somewhere and this could be a steppingstone for a lot of players. When you're over in Europe, nobody really can see you play. Well, this league right here, now that you're playing in the States, NBA teams can fly somebody out easily and look at you."

But Liberty is not going to put all his eggs in one basket. "Because if it doesn't work out, it can mess up a lot of players' heads," he said.

Liberty knows.

Following four stellar years at King High School in Chicago, Liberty was named Illinois' Mr. Basketball as a senior and touted as the top college prospect in the country in 1987.

That year, he didn't meet NCAA academic requirements and was forced to sit out his freshman season at Illinois.

As a sophomore he was a reserve on the Illini's 1989 team that reached the Final Four. His junior year he was finally able to showcase his skills, starting all 27 games and averaging 18 points and seven rebounds.

It seemed that the best was yet to come for him -- if he returned for his senior season. But he opted for the NBA draft in 1990 instead, fearing that Illinois would be penalized by the NCAA for recruiting violations involving Deon Thomas.

Confident in his ability, Liberty thought he'd be a middle first-round pick.

As it turned out, the Denver Nuggets took him with the 42nd pick and signed him to a three-year deal.

The struggling Nuggets were constantly rebuilding and had three different head coaches (Doug Moe, Paul Westhead and Dan Issel) after Liberty was picked. Under unstable circumstances, Liberty also struggled to fit in.

He received limited playing time, averaging eight points and 3.8 rebounds in three full years with the team.

"Each one of the coaches was telling me something different and I tried to do it," he recalled. "It kind of confused me a little bit and I didn't know what to do.

"And then when I did feel comfortable, they traded me. Then I had to start over again because I'm like, 'Wow, they didn't want me.' Then I went to the new team and I'm not playing so I'm like, 'They don't even want me,' so it confuses you and frustrates you."

The new team turned out to be the Detroit Pistons and Liberty's frustration got the best of him.

After the end of the 1992-93 season, the Nuggets offered him a long term contract. But on the advice of his former agent, he turned it down and signed a one-year deal.

A few games into the season, the Nuggets traded him to the Pistons and a disgruntled Liberty took it hard.

At Detroit, he became lazy and angry that he continued to be a reserve and not a starter.

"Now that I'm sitting back here and thinking about it, it's something I should have never did because when I got to Detroit, that was the lowest point I had ever been," he said. "I should have never let that happen.

"I didn't want to practice, didn't want to do the things coach asked me to do because I felt that I should have been playing more. So it was an ego thing with me. It kind of hurt me so I said I'm not going to even practice hard."

When all was said and done, the Pistons didn't re-sign him after the season. He was invited to Cleveland's training camp, but the Cavaliers released him before the start of the next season.

That's when his agent advised he go overseas.

"When that came, I was still young, I was 24," he said. "So I was like, somebody will pick me up, I'll be all right.

"When that didn't happen, that's when I started going to Europe. It was a money thing. I didn't really want to. I thought it would have been one year, max, that I'd be over in Europe then back in the NBA, but it didn't happen that way."

He and his wife, Joy, bought a home in Las Vegas in 1995 after he returned from a stint in Greece because he says he loved the weather when he visited the city while he was still with the Nuggets.

Liberty attended training camp with a CBA team in Idaho. But when he pulled a hamstring muscle, he was told the team didn't have an injury reserve spot, so he ended up back in Las Vegas.

One day in December, Silver Bandits assistant coach Mark Wade saw Liberty working out at the team's practice facility, the Doolittle Community Center. Wade set up a meeting for Liberty with head coach Rolland Todd.

A few days later, he signed with the team and has helped it rebound from a 3-10 start before his arrival to a current 23-16 record, putting the team in a tie for second in the West Conference.

"He is an excellent scorer so he gave us another scorer with size, and he's a veteran player so he's played in lots of situations with different kinds of teams. So there's a certain influence he has on our younger players," Todd said. "The thing he does best is shoot the ball, but he can do other things.

"He can pass, he can defend and rebound. He plays the whole game, but if you pick the first thing, his reputation always throughout college was that he is a scorer."

At most Silver Bandits home games, a few NBA scouts sit courtside checking out the talent.

Liberty is keenly aware of it. Every minute he gets in the game is precious.

"For me, you need to show whether you can hustle or knock somebody on their butt," he said. "When I get out there I try to make something happen.

"Everybody remembers the old Marcus Liberty. Now I don't run or jump as high as I used to, but now I'm doing the little things. I've added more to my game."

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