FIBA World Cup gives PH its moment of glory

TODAY, a new and exciting chapter in Philippine sports history opens as Manila hosts the 2023 FIBA World Cup, basketball's biggest spectacle. For the next 17 days, 32 teams, which survived a long and grueling elimination phase, will face each other in the final showdown to determine who will reign as champion for the next four years.

The Philippines fought tooth and nail for the chance to host this year's FIBA World Cup. We could not afford to let it slip by, since it may be decades before the next golden opportunity comes along.

The Mall of Asia globe in this photo taken on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023, is converted into a basketball inside a hoop as the country prepares for the 2023 FIBA World Cup starting on August 25. PHOTOS BY J. GERARD SEGUIA

We are co-hosting the World Cup with Okinawa and Jakarta, but the medal round will be played here. And that is a grand treat for the millions of Filipino basketball fans who are looking forward to the rare experience of watching their idols play.

To describe Filipinos as basketball-crazy is not an exaggeration. In almost every village, there is a basketball court. The ring may be skewed and rusty, nailed to a warped backboard, and the court nothing but a leveled-out patch of bare ground. But it is where barefoot boys learn the game. It is where the dream begins.

The roots of basketball in the Philippines are difficult to trace, because historical details are scarce. One account credits American teachers for bringing the game over toward the end of the 1800s, when America took the country under its wing. The game was just catching on in the US, having been developed by Canadian-American doctor James Naismith in 1861.

Dribbling a ball and shooting it towards a hoop (originally a peach basket with its bottom removed) quickly appealed to the local boys, and a national sport was born.

For a while, the Philippines was the unchallenged king of basketball in Asia, winning the crown during the 1913 Far Eastern Games.

The appeal has since grown into a national obsession. More than a century later, basketball has mesmerized an entire nation. We have professional and semi-pro leagues, and basketball is the glamor sport in the UAAP and the NCAA. For many barangay (villages), a fiesta celebration is not complete without a basketball tournament.

According to one report, the Philippines is Nike's third biggest basketball market after the US and China.

Multi-awarded PBA coach Tim Cone caught the essence of the Filipinos' romance with basketball during a recent interview. “We have three seasons: rainy season, [dry] season and basketball season, and we play basketball through it all. That's the passion,” Cone said.

Not surprisingly, the holy grail for many young players is suiting up for the national team. To join the roster, which includes the all-time greats of Philippine basketball, is a distinct privilege and honor.

Among the legends who played for the flag and country was Carlos Loyzaga. The six-foot-one Loyzaga led the national team to a third-place finish in the 1954 World Basketball Championship in Rio de Janeiro.

It was the best finish for the Philippines in the tournament that was the forerunner of the FIBA World Cup.

Other court heroes have responded to the call to play for the Philippine team. Lauro Mumar was Loyzaga's teammate in the 1954 championship. Narciso Bernardo and Ed Ocampo were fixtures in several national teams. So were Alvin Patrimonio, Bogs Adornado, Manny Paner, Ramon Fernandez and Allan Caidic.

Robert Jaworski was the driving force behind many Philippine teams.

It is fitting that FIBA has chosen the World Cup in Manila as the venue to honor Loyzaga by formalizing his posthumous induction into its Hall of Fame.

The quest for basketball glory continues today. The Philippines' Gilas will be up against some of the world's best teams. It will be the underdog, but Gilas prides itself in having puso — a fierce fighting heart.

For that, Gilas deserves the admiration and wholehearted support from the country as it basks in national pride for being the center of the basketball universe for the next two weeks.