Chris Moore came to Hawai'i from Virginia with hopes of pursuing his dream of a professional basketball career.

Instead, he's furious about the reasons behind the demise of his team, the Hawai'i Mega Force.

Hawai'i, which was granted an American Basketball Association franchise in March, has been suspended from league play, and owner Orrys Williams has been banned for life from the league, according to a league official.

"I was on my way to an excellent season," Moore said. "I was averaging 25 points and 11 rebounds. Now I have to go and prove myself all over again."

Williams was banned because he didn't fulfill obligations of road games or provide support to incoming teams, ABA executive vice president and chief operating officer Ricardo Richardson said.

"Another cause for termination is not taking care of players like you're supposed to," he added.

Williams could not be reached for comment.

Moore said he was enticed to come to Hawai'i after Williams promised him he would talk to NBA representatives.

"He told us he was calling representatives from the Lakers and other organizations and told them to come and see us play," said Moore, 23, a 6-foot-9 forward/center from Richmond, Va., who played at Virginia Union University.

"But then we had to cancel our road trips, because they had no money."

But that isn't his biggest gripe. Moore said Williams also failed to properly manage the team, including paying its players.

At least three players with Hawai'i ties said they signed contracts with the Mega Force and were never paid.

Former University of Hawai'i guard Jason Carter said, according to his contract, he was supposed to receive $1,000 on the 1st and 15th of each month during the five-month season.

"I'm still waiting," Carter said. "After we played the first two games, I thought it would be better, but it was the same excuses."

Former Kalaheo High and Hawai'i Pacific University forward Scott Kato, and former Kaiser High and UH guard Kaunaoa McGee also said they were never paid.

"We kept giving (Williams) the benefit of the doubt because we all wanted to keep playing basketball," Kato said. "But everything was always tentative. I can't say this is a surprise."

McGee said he had a feeling the franchise would not survive the season when the team could not even secure a home gym.

"We didn't even know when or where we were going to practice until the night before, and that affected a lot of us who have (other) jobs," McGee said. "It got to the point where (Williams) was asking us if we knew anybody who could get us a gym."

The players with Hawai'i ties said they were often asked to provide rides for the players from the Mainland to and from practice.

The Mega Force lost their only two games of this season against Beijing Aoshen Olympian. Both games were played at the Cannon Activities Center on the Brigham Young-Hawai'i campus.

"We were at the game, and he didn't even have water for us at the game," Moore said. "No water, no trainer, no fans, no support. Nothing at all."

About 50 fans showed up for the team's debut, which began 90 minutes late. At the game's initial start time, about 15 fans were in attendance. The Mega Force did not have uniforms — they arrived 10 minutes before the re-scheduled game time.

"I use the term jersey loosely because it was embarrassing," McGee said. "Basically, it was a cut-off T-shirt with screened numbers on the back. And the shorts were the kind you can get from Champs for $10."

He said the Beijing team came with "real" basketball uniforms, including warm-up sweats and matching shoes.

"Being Hawaiian, I was even more embarrassed," McGee said. "I felt like we were representing Hawai'i in the wrong way."

Richardson said reports from the Beijing team tipped off the ABA office that something was amiss in Hawai'i.

"Every home team provides the visiting team with things, and the Hawai'i team didn't pay for anything," he said.

The Mega Force, who were supposed to leave for a road trip last week, have not practiced since their second game Dec. 3.

Moore said he is owed $5,032 for expenses, air fare and salary. And that doesn't include a plane ticket going back to Virginia.

"He's going to get me home one way or another. We were abused. This is crazy," said Moore, who said that if he is not reimbursed, he plans on taking legal action. "Hawai'i is a nice place, but we came out here to play basketball."

Moore said Williams told him he "was going to have an apartment to stay in along with other players," he said. "He said he would have a chef to take care of meals. He wanted us to purchase our own plane tickets and he would reimburse us after the first pay day."

Instead, Moore said many of the players shared a room in Williams' house, and were shuttled from house to house every few days.

If the ABA can find new ownership for the Mega Force, the suspension will be lifted, Richardson said.

Kato said the Mega Force's story will make it difficult for any other potential owner to start a basketball franchise in Hawai'i.

"The sad part is the people of Hawai'i aren't going to believe it can happen now," Kato said. "This wasn't going to be huge, I think everybody realizes that. But it could have worked with the right people in charge."

McGee added: "I've come to the conclusion that (Williams) was playing with people's dreams. The ultimate goal of any athlete is to keep playing to get to the next level. That's why we kept putting up with his excuses. Now we have nothing to show for it."

The ABA, which is not affiliated with the NBA, opened play in 2000-01. Forty-two teams are listed on the league's Web site.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com and Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.