Professional basketball has found a home at the Clayton Community Gym. Our small city is now part of the American Basketball Association along with Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Seattle and San Diego.

The new Clayton Showtime franchise is owned and coached by area resident Earl Williams. His daughter Monica, a sophomore at Clayton Valley High, came up with the name in honor of her dad’s favorite pro team. The 1980s-era Los Angeles Lakers of Magic Johnson, James Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were nicknamed “Showtime” for their pleasing style of play that earned them five National Basketball Association titles that decade.

The announcement of the new Clayton Showtime franchise was made from the league’s Indianapolis headquarters last month. “The Northern California division is developing very well and we are certainly pleased to have Earl Williams and his fine organization as part of the league,” stated ABA CEO Joe Newman. “The team started as a bunch of guys playing rec ball together to travel ball and has progressed into a full-fledged ABA team. Quite a story, but then, that’s what the ABA is all about,” Newman added.

The ABA was founded in 1967 as direct competition to the NBA and competed head to head through 1976 with stars such as Julius “Dr. J” Irving and Rick Barry, eventually forcing the NBA to take in several ABA franchises. The current incarnation began as ABA 2000 and has grown to a league with nearly 60 teams from coast to coast.

First home game Dec. 3

Williams sounds like a proud dad when he talks about Clayton Showtime. “Since beginning as a semi-pro team a few years ago, the Showtime team has made quite an impact on the pro-am circuit,” he said. “It pretty much just happened. My daughter really pushed me to do it. It’s taken on a life of its own.” Standing beside Williams is Joe Beresford, the team’s assistant coach and player personnel chief. “I’ve played with and against Earl. We’re really excited about the prospects for our team this year,” Beresford said.

The team begins its inaugural 30-game ABA regular season schedule Nov. 20 in San Francisco with the first of three consecutive road games before a four-game homestand at Clayton Gym Dec. 3-11. The home opener and first-ever professional game in Clayton is 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3, against Sacramento Heatwave.

Williams and Beresford have put together a roster that includes two players from Nigeria and American players who have overseas experience. One of the team leaders is guard Jamar Smith. The Sacramento native played collegiately at Cal State Monterey Bay. “I bring toughness, aggressiveness and leadership to the team,” Smith said. “I do what it takes to win.”

Smith will be getting the ball to inside players Mike Cambell and Tim Johnson. The 7-foot Johnson last played in Switzerland. Indiana native Cambell also has pro experience overseas. The Nigerians on Showtime are 6-8 Fredrick Oguns and 6-5 Nurudeen Adepoju, who most recently played in Iran.

Sharing backcourt duties with Smith are Marcus Morgan from Cal State Fullerton and Jamar Holloway. Cleveland’s Swaney Cooper, Dave Driskell from Antioch and Kevin Jackson are also battling for playing time in the Showtime rotation.

Aiming for the top

Williams likes to set up his offense “from the inside out. Our players are very athletic and most can play more than one position,” he noted. “We’ll employ a Princeton-style motion offense.”

The coach wants his players to be thinking about “playing at the next level” and to be tough so he never uses a zone defense “not even a matchup zone.”

The 35-year-old Williams will need to use the expertise gained from his San Francisco State business administration degree to make the franchise successful financially while also creating a winning product on the court. Williams played in Europe and the Philippines after college and has contacts to help his players wanting to make professional moves there.

“Our vision is to be competitive so scouts for the NBA and foreign teams will come visit us and recruit some players and, of course, to win the ABA championship – something we are capable of doing,” Williams said.

The league uses the heritage red, white and blue basketball made famous in the original ABA and employs NBA rules including the shot clock, 12-minute quarters and the same three-point shot distance.

“We are excited to be part of this great league, a part of this dynamic community and look forward to developing relationships with local businesses as well as becoming an integral part of family-friendly sports entertainment here in the East Bay,” Williams said.

The team is looking for local sponsors. Contact office manager Alicia Beresford at aliciashowtimebasketball@yahoo.com. Tickets for home games are available for less than $10 at showtimebasketball.info or at the door. Fans can follow the ABA at abalive.com.