Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

WHEN legendary National Basketball Association (NBA) coach Pat Riley announced Fil-Am Eric Spoelstra to coach the Miami Heat, Spoelstra became the first person with Filipino and Asian heritage to coach in the NBA.

Filipinos in the Philippines, Fil-Ams and Asian Americans in the US celebrated seeing one of their own make it to the top. They hailed Spoelstra as the first ever Filipino to make it in the NBA.

But there’s a little footnote in the NBA history that many Filipinos and people in general forget.

There was a Filipino-American who played in the NBA.

He was a groundbreaker for Filipinos, Fil-Ams and Asian Americans but he’s not recognized as one, as he should be.

Fil-Am Raymond Townsend played three seasons in the NBA. Many people forget his contributions because he played from 1978 to 1982, a time when the NBA was barely setting its foot to commercial success and the only race that mattered was black or white.

Townsend was the first Fil-Am to play in the NBA. He played for the Golden State Warriors and Indiana Pacers. He was the first Fil-Am and only Asian American to ever be drafted in the first round of the NBA draft.

Seeing him at the Golden State Warriors Filipino Heritage night last month (where he was being honored), you would never suspect the 6’3", tanned skin, slick haired Townsend to be Pinoy or to have been the first Filipino to play in the NBA.

The 54-year-old serves as a youth development coordinator in sports for a high school in San Jose. And his height is uncommon for Filipinos.

In an interview with the Asian Journal, Townsend said he’s still surprised that he’s the only Fil-Am to have made it to the NBA.

"I would love to see another Filipino or Filipino-American player just somebody beside myself [play in the NBA] because it’s been a long time," he said.

Born to a Filipino mother from Batangas, Philippines and an American father, Townsend was a basketball star at UCLA before entering the NBA.

Townsend was part of legendary coach John Wooden’s last championship at UCLA in 1974. In four years at UCLA, Townsend was the starting point guard in two of those years, part of a team that won the Pac-8 division all four years, and named captain during his senior campaign.