NBA bullish on Philippines

Yesterday, at a raucous viewing party for Game 2 of the NBA Finals series which the Dallas Mavericks tied at one win apiece, the NBA made an important announcement. Amid cheers for a close game at halftime, the league announced the launch of the first-ever NBA Philippines 3-on-3 presented by Sprite. The competition will be held at the SM Mall of Asia from July 1 to 3.

Special guests for the event will be four-time NBA champion and 1994 NBA All-Star Horace Grant and the New York Knicks City Dancers. The 6’10” Grant was part of the first Bulls three-peat team alongside Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, then moved to the Orlando Magic for a Finals stint with Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway. Grant ended his career with a championship run with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2001.

“The Philippines is the perfect place to launch this event given the country’s rich culture and passion for basketball,” said Scott Levy, managing director of NBA Asia. “We expect this to become an annual competition that gives everyone the opportunity to experience the sport and get further involved with the game of basketball.”

Ed Winkle, NBA Asia senior director for business development, concurred, talking about the significance of this event, and how the NBA appreciates the passion for the league’s version of the game shown in the country. The Philippines watches the most NBA programming of any country outside the United States. When the Finals started, the US chalked up over 15 million hits on the Miami Heat’s official website. The Philippines had the second-biggest number with over 2.5 million views.

“The Philippines is a great market for us,” says Winkle, who was based in the Philippines years ago in previous employment. “NBA.com gets over 40 million page views a month from the Philippines, and we have over 667,000 fans on Facebook.”

The NBA 3-on-3 Philippines presented by Sprite will test the market for the street version of the game after the tremendous acceptance it garnered in the Youth Olympic Games last year. FIBA is hoping that the game’s rising popularity will propel it to medal sport status in succeeding Olympic Games.

The tournament itself will u se FIBA 33 rules and have seven divisions: the men’s Open, boys’ and girls’ 19 and below, boys’ 17 and below, boys’ and girls’ 15 and below, and boys’ 13 and below. Participation is open to the public. The cut-off birthdate for age-based divisions is July 1, the first day of the tournament. Registration fee is P1,200 for the Open division, and P800 per team for the rest. There will also be a VIP/Celebrity division which will be by invitation only.

Global partner Sprite has also created the Sprite NBA 3-on-3 Philippines bucket meal in conjunction with KFC. Any group of four may purchase the bucket meal, which gives them the option to either participate in the tournament or sign up for the meet and greet and photo opportunity with Horace Grant and the New York Knicks dancers. Sprite also has a surprise for those who come early for the team check-in on the evening of June 30 at the Mall of Asia Music Hall.

“We’re very excited to partner with the NBA and to take part in this inaugural NBA 3-on-3 event,” adds Criselle Pascual, sports brand manager for the Coca-Cola Export Corporation. “It is important to encourage the youth to engage in sports like basketball to keep them active and hone their passion for the game at an early age.”

This early the group Legit Status, the country’s under-18 representative to the World Hip Hop Championship in Las Vegas in late July, has confirmed participation to add color to the event. Some of the country’s most famous DJs have also agreed to perform over the three-day tournament. ABS-CBN News Channel’s Boom Gonzalez and Boyet Sison, hosts of the sports talk show “Hardball”, will be among the hosts. Gonzalez is currently in the US covering the NBA Finals. There will also be side events open to the public, such as the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest, wherein the rim will be lowered to nine feet, the Energen Skills Challenge, and a dance challenge, wherein courageous spectators may dance off against the Knicks dancers.

Interested participants may register through booths set up at the Mall of Asia Music Hall, KFC Trinoma, KFC Jupiter, Proline at Greenbelt 1 and office of organizer E-ventologist at Unit 203 ALCCO building, Ortigas Avenue in Greenhills, across Unimart, or call 565-0685. Teams are encouraged to get registration forms and prepare photocopies of their birth certificates and IDs and register as soon as possible, since slots for each division are limited.

The Philippines scores another first in its favorite sport.