Houston Rockets. AP FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – The Houston Rockets and Indiana Pacers are here.
On board separate flights, members of the Rockets team led by Dwight Howard and James Harden and the Pacers with rising stars Paul George and Roy Hibbert arrived Monday morning for the first ever NBA game in the country.
Aside from the star players from both teams, Hall of Famers Larry Bird, the Pacers president, and Kevin McHale, the Rockets head coach are also here with their respective squads.
The Rockets and Pacers will give basketball-crazy Filipinos the real NBA experience on Thursday, October 10, at the Mall of Asia Arena as part of the league’s NBA Global Games schedule, which features eight teams playing in eight cities in six countries.
Apart from the game itself, the two teams are also scheduled to make stops throughout the Metro and drop by several courts. Players will also conduct NBA Cares programs for the kids at the MOA Arena and selected basketball courts.
The NBA is also set to host a free clinic for local basketball coaches open to all mentors at any level at the MOA Arena on Tuesday along with the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP). The Rockets and Pacers coaching staff will help conduct the clinic for the attending coaches.