With the memory of King James holding court at the Malls of Asia Arena still fresh, NBA stars James Harden from the Houston Rockets and Eric Gordon from the New Orleans Pelicans have landed in the Philippines and they have a hard act to follow.
Harden and Gordon are here to start the NBA 3X Philippines 2013 tournament, which runs from July 26 to 28.
NBA 3X Philippines, now in its third straight year, is a three-on-three tournament with male and female divisions with seven different age categories to be played at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall and the Philippines International Convention Center (PICC).
“Due to the overwhelming response to the event we’ve increased the number of teams this year,” said NBA country manager Carlo Singson. He added that over 200 teams registered for the 3X tournament.
Division winners automatically qualify for a special raffle, where the winner receives four tickets to watch the NBA Global Games Philippines.
The winners of the boys under-18 division will automatically receive footwear and apparel from adidas, plus a berth in the three-on-three grand finals in the D Rose Tour on September 15-16.
NBA 3X Philippines offers other attractions to basketball fans, including a slam dunk contest, a basketball clinic, three-point shootout, skills challenge, autograph sessions and various live performances, reported GMA News.
This is Harden’s second visit to the Philippines since playing an exhibition game in Manila during the 2011 NBA lockout, and he liked the growth of emerging basketball markets like the Philippines.
“The fan base is amazing in the Philippines, the crowd was unbelievable. So obviously [in my opinion] the fan base is growing all over the world” he said.
Photo: NBA Philippines
