You could be on nba.com

Here’s your chance of a lifetime to become a National Basketball Association (NBA) reporter and get your name mentioned in probably the world’s most visited sports website, nba.com.

Just write a story on the topic "NBA Madness–The Best Way To Celebrate the NBA Finals 2005." Limit the article to six paragraphs of 10 sentences each or a total of 60 sentences or a total of 500 to 700 words.

You can write about Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic and the six bombshells from the Houston Rockets Power Dancers who’re all coming to enjoy the NBA Madness here on June 2-5. You can add your thoughts on which two teams will likely slug it out in the NBA Finals. Then you can wrap up your piece by explaining why the NBA Madness is the perfect way to experience NBA excitement.

In case you still don’t know, this year’s fifth edition of the NBA Madness is the biggest ever. Over 30,000 square foot of space has been allocated to house the interactive basketball theme park surrounding the Araneta Coliseum.

Some of the NBA Madness activities are the Beyond the Arches 3-point Shootout, the Mad Skillz where players test their fundamental hoop skills through a series of authentic NBA drills, the Shoot for a Million where lucky participants get a chance to shoot for P1 Million, the Slam Dunk competition, the NBA Theater showing the hottest playoff games live on a big screen, the Shooting Stars where players in teams take turns shooting from six spots on the floor and the team that converts all six shots in the fastest time wins, the NBA 3-on-3 contest where teams compete head-to-head for a chance to win a replica of the NBA championship trophy (there will be three divisions for boys and two divisions for girls) and the much-awaited NBA Celebrity Challenge where Walton, Howard, NBA veterans in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) like Dickey Simpkins (Alaska), Anthony Miller (FedEx) and coach Norman Black, showbiz personalities and sports luminaries compete in a fun game.

Only students up to college level are qualified to enter this contest. So you can be any age for as long as you’re enrolled in school.

We’ll choose the best three stories and each of the three writers will be given an NBA Madness T-shirt, a media all-access pass to the NBA Madness (meaning, clearance to go backstage and meet celebrities up close) and NBA Madness posters. Additionally, the three writers will be given a rare opportunity to interview two Houston Rockets Power Dancers for a story to be published in my nba.com blog spot. That means the three stories will be accessible to over 50 million fans who check out the nba.com website every month.

It’s easy to join. Write your story now and send it to "NBA Madness Reporter" The Philippine STAR, sports section, 13th and Roberto Oca Street, Port Area, Metro Manila. Note your name, age, school, year and course (if applicable), home address, telephone number and signature. Cut-off date to submit your stories is on Tuesday, May 31.

Don’t hesitate. Try your luck. Who knows? You could be featured on nba.com and your name will be read by millions.

By the way, don’t forget to send in your entries to the Walton and Howard contests we launched last Thursday and Friday. Prizes include passes to the VIP welcome party where you’ll meet Walton, Howard and the Power Dancers, NBA jerseys, NBA Madness T-shirts and NBA Madness posters.

The questions in the Walton contest are: Who is Luke Walton’s father? and How many assists did Walton compile in Game 2 of the NBA Finals last year?

The questions in the Howard contest are: Who are Howard’s two favorite players? and What is Howard’s NBA career-high in points?

We’ll pick 10 winners for each contest. Answers to the questions and details of what prizes are in store may be found in this column last Thursday and Friday. Cut-off for entries is also on Tuesday, May 31.