There was a time not too long ago when former Western Washington University basketball standout Tyler Amaya was as concerned about his statistics as he was with winning.

At that time Amaya was trying to claw out a professional basketball career overseas while facing the uncertainty of season-to-season contracts. He reasoned that his scoring and rebounding numbers would speak loudest to the next potential employer.

Now 28 years old, five countries and five years removed from his college playing days, the Mount Vernon native sounds ready to put his globetrotting ways behind him. He's ready to build a life after basketball, but first he would like to help the Bellingham Slam win its second International Basketball League championship and first since 2008.

The Slam (14-5) grabbed the league's top seed into the postseason, and will open the IBL Championship tournament with a semifinal round game on Saturday, July 2, in Vancouver, Wash. They'll face the winner of Vancouver and Portland's opening round game at 8 p.m. For Amaya, who rejoined the Slam in early June after playing in Syria, this will be his fourth stint with the team. He helped Bellingham win an IBL title three years ago, and he's hungrier then ever to get the team back to that point.

"I'm here to help these guys win a ring," Amaya said. "My job is to kind of get in where I fit in. I'm here to help out with rebounding, maybe spread the floor a little bit. This is a unique team with a lot of talented players. I'm just going to work within what they're doing. I'm just one of the many bullets in a loaded gun."

Amaya knows all too well that anything can happen in the postseason in the IBL. He was a late addition to the Slam's roster last year after a stint in New Zealand, but couldn't help push the team past Albany in the title game. Many teams in the league add talent late in the season to make a playoff push, making for an unpredictable tournament.

That's especially true for Amaya whose return to the Slam was delayed after he suffered a tear to his medial collateral ligament while playing in Syria. He said the knee feels fine now, but he's still working his way back.

"All of the teams kind of load up on new guys this time of year," Amaya said. "It's an intense time with everyone making a push these last two weeks. For me it's been about trying to get back in the flow of things. I'm still trying to get confident again in what I'm trying to do on the court."

So far Amaya hasn't shown much rust. He's averaged 14.3 points and eight rebounds while coming off the bench in the Slam's final three regular season games. While those numbers aren't quite as impressive as the 20-plus points per game he averaged during the 2008 and '09 seasons, he should still give the Slam a boost.

"I'll do whatever I can to help us win," Amaya said. "I used to think if I was scoring a lot it would help me find a job, but I'm not really concerned with that so much anymore. I don't need to prove to myself that I can play at a certain level. I want a ring a lot more than I want to score 30 points."

After spending nearly six years chasing a professional career overseas, Amaya said he's ready for a slightly more settled way of life. He's not ruling out another international stop if the opportunity and the money are right, but he's not counting on it either.

"Playing overseas has been a great opportunity, but it can also be stressful," Amaya said. "You can't really get a normal job because you're waiting for that next basketball job to come through. You pretty much put your whole life on hold while you're over there and then have to start it all over again when you get back. Now with the economy the way it is and the NBA lockout, finding those jobs overseas is going to be tough. I won't say I'm not as hungry as I once was, but I'm just coming at it from a different perspective now."

That's not to say that Amaya is ready to be done with basketball. He hopes to set up a basketball academy of some sort in the near future or at least train and coach younger players. Continuing to play with the Slam is also on the list.

"Right now I don't see myself going overseas again," Amaya said. "But I'll be playing basketball as long as my legs hold up. I've been playing with a lot of these players on the Slam for a long time. They are a special group. It's a lot of fun to play with this team, and it's something we all just seem to keep coming back to."

Reach Joe Sunnen at joe.sunnen@bellinghamherald.com or 360-756-2862.