Cuban basketball players make fast break to freedom

“It was a difficult decision. But I had to do it,” Herrera said. “They treated me well there. But I wanted freedom. I wanted to make my own choices.”

His father, Cuban Basketball Federation President Ruperto Herrera Snr, watched his son Ruperto Jnr defect to Argentina in May. Herrera called Roberto’s defection, “the toughest blow I have ever received in my life.”

Herrera Sr, here as a Tournament of the Americas official, said he would consider pursuing sanctions to ban the players from any leagues controlled by world governing body FIBA.

“It hurts. It hurts because it was my son. He made his decision. He made a big mistake. I censure him. It’s the worst thing ever in my life. My son has deserted his team and his country. He is a traitor.”

The Cubans went missing Sunday, leaving only eight players to face the mighty United States squad of National Basketball Association stars.

“We left the hotel and we didn’t go back,” Borrel said. “We wanted to be free.”

The US team routed Cuba 88-52 and the Cubans departed for home after the game, failing to win a game this week after capturing the Central American crown in May.

Roberto Herrera worried his father might be punished upon his return to Cuba and US guard Gary Payton predicted, “he’s going to get it.”

“They had an opportunity and they took it,” said Payton, the only member of the 1996 US Olympic champions on the latest set of NBA Stars.

“You have got to think about life, about what’s important. They want to get out of their country. You can’t fault them for that. I was thinking about how their families are going to be treated.”

Borrel called this a perfect opportunity to defect, citing help in this US territory from the Cuban American National Foundation, a group of Cubans living in the United States who try to aid defection bids.

“I tried to make the contacts,” Borrel said. “We talked. We made plans.”

The most talented player among those who defected, Borrel averaged 21.3 points and 10.3 rebounds here. He also was playing professionally in Argentina under a special contract with Cuba’s Communist government.

“We can go on without Borrel. It seems like the contract in Argentina has affected him,” said Cuban delegation leader Tomas Herrera, who vowed such deals would continue as a move to improve Cuban basketball.

“The main sanction is a moral sanction. Fidelity doesn’t pay. It doesn’t work with money. It’s about convictions. The problem is in the countries and the convictions of the people, in the capitalism. We don’t fund our athletes with money. We fund with conviction.”