Similar to Kobe Bryant and David Beckham when they visited the Philippines, the NBA stars who flew to the country for a promotional event were excited to meet and even play with boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao.
According to Philstar.com, the NBA stars were in the Philippines for a charity event called "PLDTHome: The Last Home Stand All Star Charity". Familiar faces in the NBA were in attendance, such as James Harden of the Houston Rockets, Kawhi Leonard of the Spurs and Damian Lilliard of the Portland Trailblazers among others. A number of stars called out Pacquiao to play with them, particularly Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors.
"[I'll] shoot over him." He said during a press conference. "He ain't got a chance against me." Lowry added that he will do a hook shot over Pacquiao if the latter were guarding him.
Other members of the team also expressed their interest in meeting the Filipino boxer.
In a report by Yahoo! Sports, Pacquiao first announced on June 9, 2014, that he will serve as the head coach of new PBA expansion team, "Team KIA". Previously, he was still uncertain whether he would become a playing coach, since PBA rules required all rookies and playing coaches to undergo the draft process. On July 19, the boxer/congressman submitted his application documents to the PBA Expansion Draft, indicating his intent to go through the draft procedure.
The problem is, Team KIA will only pick 11th or 12th in the draft. Other PBA teams can actually draft the supposed playing coach before he is even drafted by his own team. The 2014 PBA Draft will be held on August 24, 2014, at Robinson's Place in Manila. Should Pacquiao be drafted, he may debut in October, just a month before he faces Chris Algieri in the boxing ring.
In an article on NBA.com, Erik Spoelstra, coach of the Miami Heat, shared that he supported Pacquiao's new role as head coach.
John Lucas, the skills coach responsible for the NBA selection to play Gilas Pilipans in a couple of exhibition games, invited Pacquiao for a pick-up game against a few NBA stars.
Lucas said, "We would like him to come out and take some of the guys." According to Lucas, the NBA selection wanted to size up the boxing legend on the basketball court. He added, "He can come out and play basketball with us. We won't box him out."
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