The height and experience of the NBA Legends goes up against the youth and speed of a makeshift Bermuda national team tonight in what is shaping up to be an intriguing exhibition game.

And there is more than just bragging rights at stake for two of the homegrown stars, with Sullivan Phillips and Graham Robinson hoping to show off their skills to the former NBA stars and current NBA assistant coaches who they will face at Warwick Academy at 6 p.m.

Phillips, who has just quit UK side London Towers in an attempt to secure a more lucrative move to Spain, and former Div II college star Robinson both feel they have a window of opportunity left to make it as pros in the States, and will be doing everything they can to prove that against the likes of Tyrone Corbin, 16 year NBA veteran and current Utah Jazz assistant coach, as well as Elston Turner (assistant coach at the Sacramento Kings) and Lester Conner (Milwaukee Bucks).

Phillips and Robinson have only five other members of the Island Games gold winning side with them ? due to the late notice the national side were given to prepare ? but both still feel tonight could be a chance for them to put themselves in the shop window.

?Every game is an opportunity,? said Phillips, flown back in specially for the Investment Atlanta Inc. and NBA Retired Players Association-backed event.

?If you do well, then who knows who could be watching. I just see it as another chance to show what I can do. I reckon I have another two years left to try and get to the NBA but I think, yeah, I could play at that level.?

Phillips, through his US-based agent, is currently talking to a number of Spanish clubs but is yet to commit to any side for next season, although he confirmed he has now turned his back on life in the UK, where he played for the Brighton Bears, Birmingham Bullets and London Towers.

And shooting guard Robinson, top points scorer in the Games win in Gibraltar, also hopes to make the most his ?closing window of opportunity?.

?I lived with a NBA player at college and I have played against a few of them,? said Robinson, a 27-year-old Police officer.

?I think I could do it. Time is running out a little but I still have a chance. I would love to have a go at going pro. ?There?s still a chance for me, I think, and I would love to give it a go.

?I just love basketball, I love playing, I love being involved with the game and still hope I could do something full time in the game.?

And Corbin, on his second visit to Island, has nothing but good news for the aspiring Bermudians.

?Absolutely they have a chance of getting to the NBA,? said Corbin at the pre-event reception at Bacardi International last night.

?Anyone has a chance nowadays. If you go out onto that court and there is a scorekeeper and an audience, you play to win and you never who you are going to impress.

?You have to play every game like you know you are good enough to compete with the best. I expect these young guns to be running us around hard and I expect them to be good players.

?If they believe in themselves and show what they?ve got, then anything is possible in this sport.?

Corbin was keen to come to the Island to help spread the message of basketball and acknowledged that nowadays there is no reason why a Bermudian shouldn?t make it to the top league.

?It is increasingly becoming a world game,? said Corbin, who failed to recall one non-American team-mate from his first eight years in the NBA but coaches a Jazz side that includes a Croatian, Russian, Turk and Spanish player.

?Things are changing a lot and players are coming from all over to compete.

?We are taking a lot more players from Europe now but if they are good enough we will take them from anywhere, which is why it is so important to make sure you give your all in every game.?

Corbin?s team-mate Craig Ehlo, a 14-year pro with Houston, Cleveland, Atlanta and Seattle, shares this view ? but is determined to compete hard against the locals who he knows will be looking to impress.

?I say to my kid all the time, if you don?t keep shooting that jumper, there will be a kid in Croatie shooting that jumper and he will come and take your place in the team,? said Ehlo, who spent a week at Elbow Beach ten years ago with his Atlanta Hawks team-mates after their play-off run was ended by Indiana.

?It?s motivational for kids in the States and it is true because basketball really is a world game now. I played exhibition games in Berlin and London

when I was in the NBA and have been to Russia and now here since.

?The message about basketball is spreading and I think that is helping the game improve and expand.

?It should be fun against the Bermudian guys in this one, they will be quicker than us but we know a few tricks. I might not be able to dunk anymore but the competitive juices are still flowing.?

As well as playing the exhibition tonight, the players are taking part in celebrity golf and tennis competitions today and there is also an educational element to the visit.

Wali Jones, team-mate of Wilt Chamberlain in the all-conquering 76ers who won the 1967 championship and vice-president of community relations at the Miami Heat, was working with kids at Dellwood Middle School yesterday as part of his Shoot for the Stars programme.