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By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson
April 4, 2018 (Austin, Texas) - Warm up your basketball bracket skills because the San Diego Kings basketball team are going to the American Basketball Association’s ABA Elite 8 tournament in Austin, Texas this week. Specifically, their bracket play begins with a game against the DMV Warriors this Thursday, April 5, at 3:00 p.m. PST. The San Diego Kings won the Far West Division Trophy to advance to the Elite 8 tournament.
The backstory? Co-founder of the team, Abraham Muheize, is an El Cajon Valley High School graduate, class of 2006. Muheize organized a team that played their first game November 4, 2017. That recent beginning set them on their way to the tournament. His fellow co-founder is attorney King Aminpour.
Muheize’s roots in East County go way back. “I was born at Grossmont Hospital,” said Muheize. After graduation he was picked up to play football by the Montana State University’s football team, but when he got there the football coaching team quit or got fired relating to a player “moving drugs” as Muheize described the situation. Back to Southern California he came.
Next up he went to Grossmont College but was eventually picked up by Florida A & M.
But before he could even attend, his athletic career changed when he took a bullet in the arm leaving a party one night. “I sat out a year and reflected a bit,” he said. Then he redshirted and went to Central Washington University. Then came a switch to basketball in San Diego on pick-up leagues.
“We would drive downtown,” explained Muheize to play pick-up league basketball. Group thinking took them to the “We can take this basketball league and run our own” he noted. Eventually it turned into the founding of the ABA team the San Diego Kings with Coach Jeff Harper Harris in the head coach position.
“I bought in on December 2016. I sat in on an owner’s meeting,” Muheize explained, “There were over 40 owners at that meeting.” The meeting was held in Indiana. Please note that San Diego has several other ABA teams such as the San Diego Surf and Oceanside A-Team in the County.
What qualities took this 29-year-old to this point? “His work ethic,” said friend/barber, Paul Jourdain. Jourdain has known Muheize for years dating back before he won the 2005 Silver Pigskin Award from KUSI.
Muheize held auditions for his team. One outstanding player was Manny Perez, now #55, a former Harlem Globetrotter. Perez will also be representing the San Diego Kings at the ABA All Star game as well. Perez, born in New Jersey but of Puerto Rican/Cuban descent, is known as Mr. Puerto Rico and has a Puerto Mix by Frankie Cutlass, played every time he drains a 3-point shot or scores. Perez is a shooting guard, small forward, and power forward. Another player, Aaron Felix, is a graduate of Helix High School.
“I like a little bit of scouting but like to prep myself,” said Perez of his pre-game preparation.
Muheize coordinated everything for the team down to buying athletic shoes made by Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Kyrie Irving for the players to wear. He noted the average shoe size for the players is a size 14. San Diego Kings’ sportswear is also sold on their webpage www.sdkings.com.
The American Basketball Association contributed changes such as the 3-point field goal, the slam dunk moves, and the timed shooting clock to the NBA. The NBA picked up parts of the ABA’s playing style. Muheize noted “The ABA had players like Julius “Dr. J” Erving, a Hall of Famer, George “The Iceman” Gervin, and Donnie Freeman. The ABA started playing in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s. Some teams merged with the NBA. Then the league dissolved. The ABA started up again in 1999.”
Some might remember watching the late Glen Campbell singing at the 1976 ABA All-Star Game. Allegedly Campbell was there to watch Julius Irving’s slam dunk from the free-throw line. Manny Perez will also be participating in the slam dunk competition in Austin.
Ticket prices to see the Kings in action this October range from $10 to $20. Games have been played at Grossmont College mostly. For those who love to watch players that love the game with not much compensation the ABA games are all about the game.
In the meantime, the ABA Elite 8 tournament runs from April 3-7, 2018. Per Muheize the Kings game can be watched live via their Facebook page. Their bracket is in Texas time which is two hours later than California time.
Muheize said the team will also be playing this summer. Additionally, Metta World Peace, aka Ronald William Artest Jr., a former NBA player, invited the Kings to play a game in Los Angeles this May according to Muheize.
In one regard, the team is already a winner. The San Diego Kings are very active in the community with their “Community First” program, said Muheize. For example, he noted, they raised over $9,000 for an El Cajon school.
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