Nuggets’ English Wants to Add Some Italian to His Repertoire

DENVER —  Denver Nuggets forward Alex English wants to play a season in Italy when his days in the National Basketball Association are over.

Most players compare playing in Europe to being in exile, but English sees it as a dream.

“I’ve worked in Italy every summer, and I love it there,” said English, who teaches at a basketball camp outside Milan. “Once I retire, I would love to just go over there and play a year. Believe it or not, the people in Italy appreciate basketball a lot more than they do here. They really love the game.”

He could make the move at the end of the 1989-90 season, when his contract with the Nuggets expires.

English, who will turn 35 in January, hints that he is tiring of the 82-game, 8-month NBA grind. That’s why Italy is so appealing.

“I think it’s a great place to play for a person who doesn’t want to put up with all the rigorous scheduling of the NBA,” he said. “You only play about 40 games. The season isn’t as long. I could enjoy that. Plus, you get a chance to see Europe. I’d be right in Italy, and I could go to Paris in an hour. Or Munich in an hour and a half. Or London.”

That may seem to be an unusual perspective for a pro athlete, but it is hardly uncharacteristic of English. In addition to having published three books and acted in a movie, English will make his teaching debut this year in the Douglas County school system.

“I got a letter this summer from the Douglas County school superintendent, and he wanted to know if I would be interested in being the scholar-in-residence, meaning that I would share some of my experiences with writing with the kids,” English said. “I look at it as being something I can learn from, too, so of course I said yes.”

English will spend most of his time there talking about books, about words. They have been his companions even longer than basketball.

“When I was growing up I was very poor, so I never really got a chance to go places and do things. Books were my fantasy world. I could get a book and go to an altogether different environment. And when I would read, I would get totally engrossed in what I was reading.”