IO – It never crossed Anthony Gunawan’s mind that he’d become the General Manager of a professional basketball club…even though he spent nearly half his life performing the sport.
Anthony was a player in two of Indonesia’s major clubs, Aspac and Satria Muda. He earned six championship rings – five with Aspac and one with Satria Muda – before he
retired from the courts.
Retirement did not mean separation from his beloved hoops: Anthony was asked to manage the Indonesian 3 on 3 Men’s Basketball National Team in 2013, because he is a pioneer of this sports branch in our country. Amazingly, under his debut, the Indonesian team with Vinton Noland Surawi, Rizky Effendi, Wijaya Saputra, and Fandi Andika Ramadhani in its roster won the 3 on 3 FIBA Championship in Tokyo, Japan .
After years dedicating himself to the 3 on 3, Anthony decided to start
something new: “I recently started getting my hands onto the shrimp
farming business in Bali. Then RANS PIK Basketball proposed that I become their General Manager,” he said.
RANS is a recently organized club co-owned by, among others, entertainer Raffi Ahmad. Therequest to join came from RANSbPIK’s President Jeremy Imanuel: “Jeremy insisted on having me even though I told him I wouldn’t be able to be present at RANS offces day by day,” Anthony said. “The Club has big dreams beyond participating in the IBL. RANS has the long-term plan to train new athletes and hold staged competitions for both 5 on 5 and 3 on 3 basketball. Jeremy knows I have the experience necessary for it.”
However, Anthony refuses to promise his employers the moon and the stars. “It’s a large corporation with large dreams. I need to learn and adjust,” he said. “As the General Manager of a basketball club, I decided to move quickly. I have recruited my team of coaches and my athletes, including rising young stars. If the Rookie Combine IBL shows promising, talented young players, we will also make our move to catch them.”
RANS huge dream encompasses more than just winning championships for the next five years: they want to contribute to Indonesia’s basketball by supplying players for the future National Team. “This is to be expected, especially in view that Indonesia will also be hosting the delayed FIBA Asia 2021 that will be held in 2022, as well as host the FIBA World Cup 2023 alongside Japan and the Philippines. We are working to have players from our Club participate in the World Cup,” he said. “However, I am fully aware that no dream will come true without hard work.” (rp)