Originally Published in Time Out Istanbul magazine, 2004
Darüşşafaka Spor Kulübü player John Whorton comes to Istanbul via America, France, Sweden, England and New Zealand. For this world-travelling basketball star, how does the Turkish game compare?
By Aubree Galvin Caunter
Twenty-five-year-old John Whorton isn’t easy to miss. At 6-feet 9-inches (2.1 meters) and 255 pounds (116 kilograms) he strikes an imposing figure in Istanbul. In this ancient city, he must duck to get through most doors and practically fold himself in half to ride in cars. Istanbul, strictly architecturally speaking, is not built to handle a man like Whorton.
But as the new center forward for the Darüşşafaka Spor Kulübü – a member of the 14-team Turkish Basketball League – Whorton gives hundreds of fans every week a reason to admire and accomodate his commanding frame. On the court, he is instantly recognizable. Indeed, not easy to miss.
The life accorded to a full-time basketball player in Europe is transient. Most find themselves hopping from city to city, following the playing seasons and signing with teams for a short time, often only a few months. It is a vagabond life, but one that is full: of new people, new places and new opportunities to become a living basketball legend.
Whorton counts seven countries, three continents and two hemispheres among his homes during the past four years playing professional ball. He has every reason to be tired, and even fed-up with the process, but he is just the opposite.
“Basketball opens doors for me to different places,” he says. “Basketball has allowed me to see things, to do things that people dream about. I have friends that have never left the States and I’m not one of those people because of basketball.”
In addition to allowing him the freedom to see the world, basketball has given him perspective with regard to the reputation of Americans abroad. There is some measure of pressure allotted to U.S. players in a Turkish league. “Often times you’ve really got to step it up,” he says. “If you win, you get all the praise. If you lose, you get all the discord.” A total of three Americans – the league limit – play for Darüşşafaka.
Some of the stress is lessened, though, because Istanbul is such a large city, where basketball is not the end-all, be-all event. When he played in a small town in Germany, he says, “everybody knew who you were because there was nothing else really going on. But here in a city of 15 million people, there is soccer and so many other interests.”
Istanbul was a move predated by years of constant travel. Immediately after Whorton completed his final season at Kent State University in Ohio he started receiving offers from agents. In January of 2001, he joined a semi-pro International Basketball League team in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Only five months later, he found himself New Zealand-bound to play four months of a successful season with the Canterbury Rams in Christ Church. Next, he chose a Swedish team, the Jamtland Basket, but broke his hand in a workout only five days before he was to begin playing with the squad. He returned home to Columbus, Ohio to rest, recuperate and coach his alma mater high school basketball team.
In 2002, hand completely healed, he returned to New Zealand for a second season. Then, he moved on to the Wurzburg Xrays in Germany followed by third season with the Canterbury Rams.
In September 2003, he joined the London Towers. But unfortunately, he says, he didn’t jell with the team and his wife Angela told him: “For the first time in your life, you don’t seem to be enjoying basketball.”
He left the team after only four weeks and returned home only to be called back overseas in November to hook up with a team in Cholet, France. This time, he bonded immediately with fellow athletes but the head coach, who was in need of a smaller player, decided that the larger Whorton might be better suited for another team he’d worked with in Turkey. So Whorton hopped another plane in November to Istanbul where he signed with the Darüşşafaka Spor Kulübü.
Despite having switched allegiances so often early in his career, Whorton is philosophical about his role as a member of a lineup. “As a basketball team, you have got to be one unit, like a machine,” he says. “Everyone does smaller parts to make the whole thing go. If one thing breaks, nothing works.”
For his part, Whorton hopes his team goes all the way to the TBL playoffs this spring. After all, he enjoys Istanbul, its sights and its fans. There’s no better way to live a basketball life than among friends.
