KOBE Paras will defend his slam dunk crown when he leads the Philippine team in the 2015 Fiba 3×3 U18 World Championship set in Debrecen, Hungary, on June 4-7.
The son of Filipino basketball great Benjie Paras will team up with Ateneo’s Mike Nieto, FEU’s Russel Escoto and La Salle’s Richie Rivero in the 24-country competition where they are bracketed in pool A with Russia, Poland, Uruguay, Kazakhstan and the host country.
Nieto and Escoto are no strangers to the world scene, having played for the country in the Fiba U17 World Championship in Dubai last year. The four-man team will leave for Hungary on May 31.
Defending champion US is in Pool D with Spain, Puerto Rico, Georgia, Argentina and Indonesia while Germany and Lithuania are the teams to watch in Pool B. 2013 runner-up France, Brazil, Turkey, New Zealand and Estonia comprise Pool C.
The 6-foot-6 Paras, who is committed to play for UCLA in the US NCAA, pulled off the winning dunk in Jakarta 2013 after leaping over Thirdy Ravena who was on a motorcycle in a feat viewed by over two million people on YouTube.