Filipinos do not have the requisite height to become dominant in the sport, but basketball in the Philippines is big. You can bet your hard earned peso one can find a basketball court in all of the country’s 42,046 barangays. During town fiestas, nearly all barangays have their own basketball team competing in the centerpiece sports event. No wonder Filipinos can’t have enough of basketball, which is played on both the amateur and professional levels.
An interesting trivia: The Americans first introduced basketball to the Philippine public school system as a women’s sport in 1910. The game was played in Interscholastic meets from 1911 until 1913. Women’s basketball met opposition from conservative groups, particularly the Catholic Church who view bloomers worn by women basketball players as inappropriate. By the time skirts were allowed to be worn above bloomers as a compromise, women’s basketball was already in decline and was only played in provincial and local interscholastic meets.
Enter men’s basketball: The country’s first men’s national team was organized in 1910. It won the first Far Eastern Championship Games in 1913. In all but one of the 10 editions of the games, the national team won the gold medal.
The Philippines holds the distinction as home to Asia’s first professional basketball league, which is the second oldest league in the world. In the first Southeast Asian Games in 1977, the national team won the gold medal. In fact, the Philippines has dominated the men’s basketball events in the Southeast Asian Games since the sport was played, winning 18 of the 21 events.
No wonder Filipino basketball fans have developed the mindset that the Philippines has the best basketball players in Southeast Asia. In the recently concluded 31st Southeast Asian Games, Indonesia upset Gilas Pilipinas to take gold, ending the Philippines’s 13-year reign. Indonesia won 85-81 to claim a first ever SEA Games men’s basketball gold.
Social media was ablaze after the game, with rabid fans blaming Coach Chot Reyes for the loss. In the recent FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, fans mercilessly pilloried Reyes after he said that their 80-95 loss to Lebanon was a “great learning experience” for his young squad. The agony for the champion coach did not end there. Even during Gilas’ blowout win over Saudi Arabia, Reyes was ruthlessly booed by Filipino fans in attendance.
Amid the heckling against Coach Reyes from his countrymen no less, Jordan Clarkson, Gilas team captain Kiefer Ravena, and all the players were quick to defend their coach.
“I mean, he’s part of us, he’s one of us. He got boos from the crowd…. I’m not here, you know a lot throughout the years, so I don’t really know what’s going on but from what I’ve seen in these last days, it’s kind of been some bullsh*t,” said Clarkson after the game. “Excuse my language…but yeah, he’s our coach, he’s one of us, he works hard, he puts all this together,” the Utah Jazz star said.
Ravena can’t hide his displeasure over the boos directed at Reyes every time he was flashed on the big screen. “As one nation, you won’t appreciate that. We’d understand if we were playing abroad, but we are in the Philippines. Of course, I feel bad for what happened,” Ravena said.
Despite being under fire on social media and at the games, Reyes remains focused on his mission for Gilas Pilipinas and the country, which is to assemble the best team for the Fiba World Cup 2023.
After more than four decades, the Philippines will be hosting one of the biggest basketball events next year, the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup. This will serve as a stage for the country to showcase itself as both a hoops loving nation and a tourism destination. This is the first time that the event will be held in three countries—Philippines, Japan and Indonesia—with the final phase to be held in Manila. With 32 teams participating, the 2023 FIBA World Cup will be held from August 25 to September 10, 2023. The country will likewise host the FIBA World Congress with about 500 delegates from all over the world.
The 2023 FIBA World Cup will be a huge opportunity for the whole country, not just in terms of basketball, but also for tourism and business. Let’s start dumping all negative vibes so we will be ready to show the world what kind of basketball fans Filipinos are. Let’s root for Gilas, our national team, players and coaches and all team members included—win or lose.
Let’s heed President Marcos’s message on National Heroes Day: “Let us not be stuck in conflicts or disagreement and pulling each other down. Instead, let us become an instrument of unity and peace.”