With apologies to World B. Free, Shaquille O'Neal and, yes, even God
Shammgod, when it comes to staking a claim to basketball's
alltime name, Fennis Dembo enjoys Jordanlike distance from
the pretenders. "I'm always a bit stunned that people
still remember me," says
Fennis, whose mother, Clarissa, selected his name, along with
that of his twin sister, Fenise, as a declaration that
after 11 children, her childbearing days were finis.
"I tried to set up an E-mail account, but two other
guys—basketball fans, I
guess—were already using my name in their
address."
Dembo, a native of San Antonio, and his unforgettable
appellation moseyed onto the sports scene more than a
decade ago when he established a national profile at
Wyoming. A burly
6'6" forward with a penchant for flamboyance, a
predilection for chaps and Stetsons and—one almost
forgets—a decent outside shot and fine low-post moves,
Dembo, as a junior, helped the Cowboys reach the Sweet 16
of the 1987 NCAA tournament. His most
memorable game came in the second round, in which he torched UCLA
for 41 points while bombarding the Bruins' Reggie Miller
with verbal shrapnel. The next fall Dembo was a preseason
All-America. After a lackluster senior year (Dembo only
made All-WAC, not
All-America, and Wyoming lost in the first round of the NCAAs),
he was selected by Detroit in the second round of the NBA
draft. In
his lone season in the league, he was little more than a
cognomen in the
Pistons' machine, a tweener who was too slow to play small forward
and too small to play power forward. After Detroit won the
1989 NBA title, Dembo was released, and he embarked on a
dizzying basketball odyssey. His travels included two
stints in the CBA, a
stop in Spain, three years in France, a year in Italy and a
stretch last year as the designated American ringer on an
Argentine team. "One of the hardest things about
playing overseas is that clubs don't like the players to
have too much personality," he
says with a chuckle. "I had to calm it
down."
Having unofficially retired and settled in Birmingham with
his wife, Joy, and their infant daughter, Kailyn, Dembo,
31, hopes to work with troubled teens as a coach and
counselor.
"There are lots of kids who need help," he says.
"I've had a great time playing basketball, and getting
a championship ring with Detroit, I wouldn't trade for
anything, but it's time to move
on."
Nevertheless, as a visit to the Internet will attest, his
name won't easily be
forgotten.
—by Jon Wertheim
photograph by Joe McNally
Issue date: November 24, 1997
Past Editions of Catching Up With...
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