It is from the news that I learned that a press conference will be made on July 15 to announce the NBA players who will compose the NBA selection team that will play exhibition matches against our local stars from PBA and Smart Gilas on July 24 and 25, respectively. Those who were initially invited were NBA's reigning MVP Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls, Kobe Bryant of the LA Lakers, Kevin Durant and Russel Westbrook - the dynamic duo of the Oklahoma Thunder, Tyreke Evans of the Sacramento Kings, Mario Chalmers of the Miami Heat, Kevin Love of the Minesota Timberwolves, and the monster-jammer Blake Griffin of the LA Clippers.
At first I was skeptical on the ability of local organizers to pull a show like this, basically because the names they dropped are not just NBA players but are the superstars of their respective teams. To successfully invite one of them would entail great difficulty, how much more collectively. Yes, we had invited several NBA players play in the Philippine soil before, but as far as I could remember only Shaquille O'neal and Chris Gatling in the 90's were active players, the rest were legends and retired players.
At first I was skeptical on the ability of local organizers to pull a show like this, basically because the names they dropped are not just NBA players but are the superstars of their respective teams. To successfully invite one of them would entail great difficulty, how much more collectively. Yes, we had invited several NBA players play in the Philippine soil before, but as far as I could remember only Shaquille O'neal and Chris Gatling in the 90's were active players, the rest were legends and retired players.
But on the afternoon of July 25, I was shocked to read from Twitter that the planned Smart Ultimate All-Star Weekend will push through. It was made public via the twitter accounts of Chot Reyes and TJ Manotoc, that among those invited, Kobe Bryant and Tyreke Evans agreed to come, along with other NBA stars Chris Paul, James Harden, DeAndre Jordan, and Derrick Williams and two more unnamed players. But the scheduled matches were moved to July 23-24, instead of July 24-25. Coach Reyes said Blake Griifin had earlier signified his intention to come but later backed out because his brother is getting married (sayang!). No news from Rose, Durant, Westbrook and Love. Here are what Reyes and Manotoc tweeted:
@tjmanotoc: Eto na! RT @coachot: Kobe,Chris Paul,Tyreke Evans,Deandre Jordan, Harden,Derrick Williams + 2 more @ Araneta July 23-24. Buy tickets 9115555
@coachot: "We almost had Blake Griffin, he already said yes. but his brother is getting married"
@tjmanotoc: no mention of Rose & Durant. but source says other 2 to be named will please all. so does that mean it may be Rose & Durant? Or Griffin?
When I read about this news, I was like going nuts as I relayed the news to my brother, Popop who, on the other hand, seemed to not care at all (he was playing 2k11 at that time)! I immediately called Ticketnet to resereve tickets. At first I couldn't get through their line, perhaps because fellow pinoys with the same goal were flooding the line of Ticketnet. But after several attempts, I finally got through. I reserved 5 UPPER BOX A tickets and 1 LOWER BOX B ticket. After the call, i immediately dressed up and rushed to SM Cubao, together with Popop, to purchase the tickets. When I finally got hold of the tickets, it took some time before it finally sunk on me that we will finally be watching NBA stars play live.
In the evening, when my other brothers, Bolet and Jr arrived from school, I relayed to them the good news and they were equally ecstatic. Throughout the night we talked about about the upcoming game, what jersey we will be wearing on the game day, the placard/banner we will make to get these players' attention, and who the last two unnamed players might be.
The following day, on July 16, coach Chot tweeted this to my dismay:
Sabi ko "big fish" diba? Well we just confirmed 1 of them - Derek Fisher :) D last is much, much bigger than this fish tho! Who do u think?
In the evening, when my other brothers, Bolet and Jr arrived from school, I relayed to them the good news and they were equally ecstatic. Throughout the night we talked about about the upcoming game, what jersey we will be wearing on the game day, the placard/banner we will make to get these players' attention, and who the last two unnamed players might be.
The following day, on July 16, coach Chot tweeted this to my dismay:
Sabi ko "big fish" diba? Well we just confirmed 1 of them - Derek Fisher :) D last is much, much bigger than this fish tho! Who do u think?
To my mind, there are hundreds of other NBA players, why invite Fisher who could hardly score 5 points last NBA season? Other than his ball handling skills, there is no more to see from him. But since he has already been included in the team, I might as well feel okay about it.
The anti-climactic news about the inclusion of Fisher was erased by the follow-up news about the inclusion of the NBA reigning MVP Derrick Rose:
@inquirerdotnet: NBA MVP Derrick Rose joining Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul in Manila after all http://bit.ly/qrL5qZ
The anti-climactic news about the inclusion of Fisher was erased by the follow-up news about the inclusion of the NBA reigning MVP Derrick Rose:
@inquirerdotnet: NBA MVP Derrick Rose joining Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul in Manila after all http://bit.ly/qrL5qZ
This was followed by another shocking news the following day, saying that Kevin Durant has replaced DeAnre Jordan, who could not make it because of passport problems:
@coachot: Bad news! Kevin Durant IS replacing Deandre Jordan in d Smart Ultimate Weekend. Bad news for us & Gilas. Great for Pinoy Bball fans
And just today, another tweet from TJ Manotoc telling that Javale Mcgee of the Washington Wizard is the 9th member of team NBA.
@tjmanotoc: just confirmed from TV5 & AKTV's @tonyatayde that Javale McGee is the 9th player of the NBA stars
I could not believe this was all for real. Rose, Durant, Paul and Kobe to play together??? In Manila??? What at first seemed to me to be a propaganda or a joke was really a real deal. Forget about the NBA lockout and forget about Lebron losing in the finals. We are seeing NBA stars play here! This is definitely a dream come true for me and my siblings, and perhaps to all the Filipino ticket-holders. Now, we don't have to go to the US to see NBA players play and showcase their talents!
Coalescing these NBA superstars to play in the Philippines is absolutely a priceless gift by the people behind this event to this basketball-loving country. We the pinoy fans are forever indebted to you, especially to fellow Bedan, Manny Pangilinan of the MVP Sports Foundation, with this respect. Hopefully this will not be the last, but a first to many more in the future. How about bringing here LeBron James next???
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