Chicago Tribune: Update on Sam Mack

MACK'S PLAN: CLEAR NAME, PROVE HE HAS GAME


By Scott Merkin
Special to the Tribune
December 27, 2000


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Three-year-old Sam Mack Jr. needs to know nothing more about his father other than that his job is to play basketball and that he loves him.
But on a cold, December night at Van Andel Arena, the younger Mack had one other question on his mind as he waited for his dad to dress and come out of the Grand Rapids Hoops' locker room.
"Did my daddy's team win tonight?" Sam Jr. asked of one of the Hoops' media representatives. When he was told his dad did win, 98-93 over the Gary Steelheads, he turned to Leslie Johnson, his mother and Sam's fiance, and a big smile crossed his little face.
All seemed right with the world. If only life could be this joyful and this simple for Sam Mack Sr. all the time.
The 6-foot-7-inch, 220-pound Mack never thought he would return to play in the Continental Basketball Association. Not after establishing himself as a quality NBA outside shooter with the Houston Rockets and the Vancouver Grizzlies.
Mack's trip back to the CBA, hooking on with the team that originally drafted him out of college, has more to do with his problems off the court as opposed to his lack of skill on it. In this case, the 30-year-old former Thornridge High star is trying to prove his character following an arrest on July 11 by police in Phoenix, a south suburb.
Mack is certain he has work to do in Grand Rapids, and not just on his conditioning and rebounding. This also might be his last chance.
"I have to get a few things clear before I can get an NBA contract," explained Mack before a recent Hoops' game. "Now, I'm just working my butt off out here.
"But there ain't nothing wrong with a little hard work."
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Mack was preparing to represent the NBA at a coaching clinic in Puerto Rico, but realizing he left something behind at his mother's house in Phoenix, he doubled back before leaving town. The four-page police report picks up from there.
An officer saw Mack in his blue Range Rover run through a stop sign. An attempt to stop Mack's car was made, but he continued on to Vincennes Road "at a high rate of speed."
"Did I stop right away? No, and I was wrong there," Mack said. "I wasn't going to stop when I see guns hanging out their window.
"I wanted to get to an area where people noticed me, in front of my mom's house. They said I led them on a high-speed chase? There was no high-speed chase in Phoenix with kids all out at 6 p.m. in the summer. It was a bunch of hogwash they concocted to make me look bad."
Mack eventually stopped his car, in the driveway of his mom's house. He was ordered to leave the vehicle, at which point the police observed "in plain view on the floor [driver's side front] one clear plastic bag containing a green leafy substance [tested field positive for cannabis]."
He was taken into custody and transferred to the Phoenix police department lock-up for processing. Further investigation revealed "in a travel bag 19 additional bags of green leafy substance [tested positive for presence of cannabis]" and "one clear plastic bag containing a white rocky substance [tested positive through field test for cocaine]."
Mack was officially charged with disobeying a stop sign, fleeing and eluding, possession of cannabis and possession of a controlled substance.
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Sitting in the stands at Van Andel Arena, his voice rose and quivered with such emotion and intensity.
Mack believes the arresting police were out to get him. They were jealous of his NBA lifestyle and wanted to make a name for themselves by using Mack.
Mack's expensive car would be easy to pick out in the middle-class village of Phoenix. As an NBA player, he's also very well known in the area. But how does he explain having drugs in his car, especially for someone who claims not to use drugs?
Mack says it's another setup. The drugs weren't there when they examined his car in front of his mom's house. By the time the car was taken back to the police station, he believes the drugs were planted.
"Two hours later they found stuff," said Mack. "In front of everyone, when they tore the seats up, tore the door panels off, they found nothing."
Betty Johnson, the assistant chief of police for Phoenix, declined to comment on the matter. The charges filed by the Phoenix police against Mack have been expunged from his record. Standing before Judge Thomas Panichi in the Markham Courthouse on Sept. 28, Mack agreed to attend drug counseling.
Attending the school has the same sort of effect as the plea of supervision for a speeding ticket. It's not necessarily an admission of guilt but a way to put the problem behind quickly. After his court appearance was delayed a number of times from an original date of Aug. 15, Mack was ready to move on.
"It was definitely not a guilt admission," Mack said. "The judge was actually astonished I came forward with the idea to go to a program first without them having to put me there or go through my case.
"I told them I would do whatever it takes because I'm innocent. I didn't have to go to drug school. I just wanted to go to school because I wanted this taken care of quickly. If I didn't, it would have gone on further and further into the season, and I couldn't play now."
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Mack's arrest in Phoenix certainly was not his first publicized brush with the law. As a freshman at Iowa State in 1989, Mack offered a ride to a football player who he recognized walking in the rain. The player wanted to stop for something to eat before going home, but when he took an inordinately long time inside, Mack followed him in.
The player had pulled a gun and was holding up the restaurant. Mack was charged with armed robbery for allegedly being an accomplice. A jury found Mack not guilty six months later.
Mack transferred to Arizona State because of his unwanted notoriety. In Tempe, a female student accused him of sexual assault. Police investigated the incident and found no cause to charge Mack, but he transferred again--this time to the University of Houston.
"He's never been convicted, and that speaks for itself," said Rocky Hill, who coached Mack on the sophomore team at Thornridge and is Thornton's boys basketball coach.
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When Mark Hughes finished up his CBA career in 1996, he had become fairly well acquainted with Mack's ability. So, when the Grand Rapids coach heard Mack was available to play this season, he jumped at the opportunity to sign him.
"I called his agent, Joel Bell, and we were actually talking about another kid I wanted, Jeff Shepperd," Hughes said. "He said Sam was available as well, and I said, `Are you kidding me?´
"When he was with Rockford, Sam used to beat us up. I also remember him getting called up to Houston that year. I played against him, and you always have a fondness for CBA guys who have made it to the NBA."
Mack, who played for five CBA teams before his current stint with Grand Rapids, began in the NBA with 40 games in San Antonio during the 1992-93 season. His career didn't take off until a 10-day contract with Houston in 1995-96 led to 31 games, 20 starts and a 10.8 points per game average.
He averaged 38 percent from three-point range during his two seasons with the Rockets before being traded to the Vancouver Grizzlies for a second-round draft pick the following season. He started 54 of the 57 games in which he played, averaging 10.8 points again, and set a franchise record with eight three-pointers in a game.
His next season began in Vancouver before he was traded back to Houston for Rodrick Rhodes. Mack signed as a free agent with Golden State late last season but was waived at its completion. Mack claimed to have a contract with Atlanta in the works when this summer's legal problems began.
In order to build up his game and reputation, he returned to the CBA. Wearing No. 4, Mack will earn between $30,000 and $35,000 for the season.
"Both NBA and overseas teams have the chance to watch you play," said Mack of the CBA's benefits. "Right now, I have to get into better shape. I have no lift from my legs, but my overall game will come back. The shots I'm missing now, I will be making in one week."
Mack's NBA experience makes him more polished than most CBA players. He knows how to play defense, he realizes a key rebound can be just as important as a big three-point shot and he doesn't try to show his full range of skills in one trip down the court.
"To be honest, Sam will be gone within the next month to six weeks," Hughes said. "He gets in shape and, boom, he's back in the NBA."
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On Mack's upper right arm, there is a tattoo of two hands praying. Above the hands are the words, `He watcheth,´ and under the hands are the words, `over me.´
"God won't bestow anything over you that you can't handle," Mack said. "Everyone goes through trials and tribulations. It's how you bounce back. That's the thing."
Returning to the NBA is an unfulfilled need for Mack, not a desire. He also wants to clear his name completely from this summer. His dedication to basketball is only challenged by the dedication to his family. He's in the process of moving his mom out of Phoenix, with Houston being her choice for a new home.
His 9-year-old daughter, Samantha, who lives in Chicago with her mother, heard all about her dad's arrest from her classmates. She also read and heard how he "was crucified by the media," according to Mack. But she has the same resolve as her dad.
"She always told people everything would be all right," said Mack.
And then there's Sam, Jr., working on his game with a small plastic, giveaway basketball along side his dad. Maybe some day he will be a NBA player like Sam Sr.
Then again, maybe his presence, not to mention that of his daughter and his fiance, will serve as constant reminders for Sam Sr.


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