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An NBA champion is in the Philippines. On Friday, Isaiah Joe of the Oklahoma City Thunder talked to the media before interacting with fans at the NBA Store in Mandaluyong. Joe is coming off his first NBA title as the Thunder defeated the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals last June. "You definitely have to see it to believe it. The fact that I've touched down here and I'm getting to see it is definitely amazing," Joe said about the Filipinos' love for basketball.
Be it in Memphis or in Manila, Ja Morant made sure to turn every court into his own playground. The Grizzlies guard did just that in his rare Manila visit as part of his “Make Then Watch” tour, which is aligned in his effort to connect and interact with local basketball stars.
The 25-year-old high-flying guard made a huge entrance before obliging to the fans to hit the ‘griddy’ dance moves. Morant also watched from the sidelines as Team Barangay and Team La Salle went at it in a four-quarter exhibition game.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson on channeling Kobe Bryant during World Cup: I watched Kobe, Jordan clips every day, and decided to wear the armband
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson: And so right after I won the Philippines championship, because I was refreshed, I wasn't playing in Korea. I'm averaging 10 minutes a game. The games I did play, I would dominate, but for the most part, I'm recharged going into the Philippines. So that's when I stopped drinking. I'm in bed by 9.30, 10 o'clock. I'm waking up at 4 or 5 am, and I'm working out. I'm super locked in. And literally from then on, it was the best basketball of my career. And that's where I'm watching Kobe every day. I'm watching Jordan every day. I'm just like, it's on repeat every single day. Any of my teammates from Puerto Rico to Turkey, to Korea, any of my teammates, every game, they'll see me on my phone. I'm not on Instagram. I'm not on, I'm watching Kobe. I'm watching Jordan. I'm just watching how they move. I'm watching how they're being guarded and all of these things. So, like leading up to the World Cup, I've always loved the armband and things like that. But leading up to the World Cup, I'm like, "Nah, this is gonna be special."
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Rondae Hollis-Jefferson: I definitely had NBA teams interested after my performance at the World Cup
How did the sudden spotlight feel, and did it spark the NBA or Euroleague interest you hoped would? Rondae Hollis-Jefferson: Yeah, well, based on what my agent was saying, Euroleague teams immediately called and were like, "Look, we want you." The only thing was that I was already signed to the Philippines for the next season. And I'm not gonna like to go back on, they've been so wonderful to me. But yeah, Euroleague teams definitely caught on. It was about three of them, I believe, three, four of them. And then the NBA, we were speaking to teams, and we were talking. I just was, I was so locked in that it was like, do I want to risk the like, at this point where I'm like, I'm winning a championship, I'm doing this, I'm committed to this. "Do I want to risk at that point going for like a 10-day and possibly getting cut, or have stability, earn money for my family, and take care of those things?"
Kevin Quiambao has officially begun his pursuit of a spot in the NBA Summer League Quiambao, the Korean Basketball League (KBL) revelation, arrived in Sacramento on Thursday to try out for a spot in the Kings’ Summer League team roster.
In his return to the Philippines, former NBA Coach of the Year Byron Scott has more to do, as opposed to merely being a visitor. Scott is coaching Fil-Am Nation Select USA in its title defense bid in the 2025 Smart-NBTC National Finals. "We want to do back-to-back. We have a bunch of guys who love to compete," Scott said.
Scott's hiring sure is a statement, but the 14-year NBA pro admitted that this partnership offers no guarantee especially with this setup being a unique one for his part. "I have been coaching pretty young teams but this is definitely the youngest.," the 64-year-old tactician admitted, with his players all being 19-under – a far cry from his past NBA coaching jobs where he handled marquee names like Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, and Kyrie Irving.
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Former NBA All-Star DeMarcus Cousins will be representing a Philippine squad once again. The 34-year-old big man will don the Philippine colors anew, this time for the Strong Group Athletics (SGA) team that will compete in the 34th Dubai International Basketball Championship from January 24 to February 2 next year. In a statement, SGA head coach Charles Tiu confirmed that Cousins will be a big boost for the squad. “We worked hard to get DeMarcus. I’ve heard great feedback about him, and I’ve spoken to him a couple of times. He’s serious, means business, and wants to win. We’ve even been discussing personnel matters already,” Tiu said.
Jared McCain says he's partly Filipino
Add Philadelphia 76ers rookie Jared McCain to the list of current NBA players with Filipino roots. McCain on Thursday acknowledged his Asian heritage and revealed he is partly Filipino. “Shout out to my Asian community. I am a Filipino. I mean, only like 10 percent, but that counts right?” said McCain in a livestream video with his teammate Adem Bona.
After winning his second PBA title with TNT, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had a different tone when asked about his NBA ambitions. “For sure, it’s still the highest league in the world. It’ll always be in my mind but I feel like at a point in your life, God puts you where you need to be and I think where we go wrong is we fight that,” Hollis-Jefferson told reporters after the title victory.
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