Largest NBA Fit Week kicks off

MANILA, Philippines - The National Basketball Association (NBA) yesterday unwrapped the first-ever NBA FIT Week – the pro league’s comprehensive health and wellness platform that promotes physical activities and healthy living – in the Philippines.

The event will run till Aug. 15 in various venues in Metro Manila, featuring an array of activities highlighted by basketball clinics to be conducted by the Miami Heat’s Fil-Am coach Erik Spoelstra and his assistant David Fizdale.

According to NBA Asia senior director of business development and marketing partnerships Edward Winkle, the 10-day event will be the largest NBA FIT program to be staged in the Asia-Pacific, the previous ones in Japan, Korea and China being held on smaller scales.

“There will be a series of interactive fitness clinics; a combination of on-court physical activities, exercises, nutrition seminars and basketball clinics,” Winkle said in a press conference also attended by Spoelstra, Food and Nutrition Institute director Mario Capanzana, and Unicef chief representative to the Philippines Vanessa Tobin.

“We’ll have 10 full days of activities and we want our message of a healthy and well-balanced lifestyle to be as comprehensive ass possible,” he added.

On tap are NBA FIT Clinics at SM North Edsa on Aug. 7 and 8; and at Far Eastern U and De La Salle U on Aug. 8. These comprise free fitness and basketball activities like cardio and kickboxing classes by Fitness First; running clinics by coach Rio dela Cruz, Bollywood and modern dance classes by Marlette Besa; urban fitness demo by Philippine Kettlebell Club; healthy meal preparation demo by celebrity chefs Rolly Laudico and Aileen Anastacio; and the NBA FIT Challenge and Dribble, Dish and Swish skills competitions.

On Aug. 11, Spoelstra will hold the NBA FIT Development Camp at the Araneta Coliseum, where he will give 80 male and female players from the UAAP “legitimate NBA training.” The following day, the Heat tactician will motor off to his mother’s hometown in San Pablo, Laguna for the NBA Cares activity, giving seminars and visiting sick children.

The NBA FIT Week will culminate in a fun run at the SM Mall of Asia complex on Aug. 14 and the NBA FIT Challenge Finals on Aug. 15, also at MOA.

“I’m very excited to be here and be a part of this program. This is something I can connect with professionally and personally,” said Spoelstra, the first person of Filipino descent to be head coach of a pro team in the US.

“Professionally because as a head coach, one of our pillars is to be the best-conditioned team in the NBA and personally because I try to live a healthy lifestyle and eat well myself. And being here in the Philippines takes it to a deeper level as I’d be able to connect to a lot of people here, especially to my relatives,” said Spoelstra.