NBA moves to expand reach in PH, Asia

WILFRED Uytengsu Jr. of Alaska Milk Corp. is a stakeholder of the NBA Council.

It is no secret that the Philippines is the National Basketball Association’s top market in Asia.

Yet the management of NBA Asia thinks there is much work left to be done.

“I think our focus is about making sure our content is available to our fans [in the Philippines] in as many ways that we can. We want to make sure it’s easy for people to find our content in whatever device and whatever setting that they’re in,” NBA Asia managing director Asia Scott Levy says in a conference call with the Inquirer.

“I think the challenge is the pace of development of technology, making sure that we optimize every experience, that we have the right content and we make it accessible at the right price … these are the things we spend a lot of time on. I think we’re doing pretty well at this point,” he adds.

NBA’s digital assets include NBA.com and the NBA app, which achieved record traffic during the 2014-15 season, as well as NBA TV.

The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with more than 960 million likes and followers globally across all league, team and player platforms.

In the Philippines, Levy aims to focus on the grassroots to develop the skills of children in playing basketball, the trainers and parents.

Levy hopes the establishment of Jr. NBA Asia Advisory Council will encourage basketball participation and active lifestyles among children.

Hall-of-Famer and NBA Global Ambassador Dikembe Mutumbo Jr. will provide inspiration and lend his presence to accelerate the Jr. NBA’s development.

HANS Sy of SM Prime Holdings will lend a hand to Jr. NBA’s grassroots programs.

Prominent business leaders like SM Prime Holdings president Hans Sy, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines president and CEO Dennis A. Uy and Alaska Milk Corp. president and CEO Wilfred Steven Uytengsu Jr. are stakeholders in the council. They will lend a hand in rolling out various basketball programs in the country.

“What we were looking for were people that had track record in supporting their community, supporting their country, supporting youth development. We were hopeful they would have the passion for the sport of basketball and that they would be interested in helping roll out the Jr. NBA program.

We were very careful to make sure the members would be interested, supportive and had a track record in doing these kinds of things on their own. We were lucky that all the members that we asked to join were very receptive to the idea and we’re thrilled to have them as part of the council,” Levy says.

A series of basketball clinics will be held across the Philippines to sharpen the skills of both players and coaches. The program is open to boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 14 for free.

SCOTT Levy thinks that PH is a potent market for the NBA.

The Jr. NBA offers the following: Skills clinics in school communities, Regional Selection Camps, a National Training Camp and an NBA experience trip.

The skills clinics will be held nationwide from January to April with stops in Bukidnon, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Dagupan, Davao, Iloilo, Metro Manila and Puerto Princesa. New locations include Batangas, Catanduanes and Cavite.

The NBA, through NBA Asia, aims to reach a bigger portion of the region’s population.

“It starts with a very large part of the world’s population. When you think about the NBA, you think about the fact that youth around the world follow our players not only for what they do on the court, but they are fashion icons, technology icons, social media leaders.

The median age in Southeast Asia and India is different from those in other parts of the world, and it’s right in the sweet spot for the NBA,” he says.

Mutombo is set to travel to Asia to share his story on how sports has dramatically changed his life. Starting from his early days in Kinshasa, Congo, to playing in the NBA for 18 years before retiring from the Houston Rockets in 2009.

Since then, the 7-foot-2 former NBA player has been helping children in Southeast Asia lead active lives and remain physically fit.

HALL-of-famer Dikembe Mutumbo Jr. encourages kids to live healthy.

“Basketball is a fun game. One thing that differentiates basketball from any other sports in the world is that basketball can be played anywhere. You can play basketball in your school yard, in your driveway, at the park, and in an arena.

For you to develop, you don’t need a great facility. So many kids play basketball because they love the game not because they want to become professional athletes. You can play basketball because you want to stay healthy, you want to stay active and because you love the game,” says Mutombo.

Mutombo is the chair and president of Mutombo Foundation which he created in 1997.

This season, the Jr. NBA will reach more than 6.5 million youth in 32 countries.

Both Levy and Mutombo are optimistic the next basketball star after Yao Ming would emerge from Asia.

“I would love to travel more to Asia to encourage more players to come to the league. The door is open. Come to the training camp, come test yourself to see if you can make it to a team,” says Mutombo.