The coming madness

In the past few years, the NBA has taken advantage of the heat of the playoffs and euphoria of the finals to hold its annual NBA Madness event in the Philippines. In the past, the event was spread out over malls in a short span of time. Last season, the event was a big three-day party at the Araneta Center, with a celebrity game, concert and appearances by Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic, Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Houston Rockets Power Dancers.

"This year, we’re going to go back to our roots, in a manner of speaking," explains Carlo Singson, the Filipino NBA senior manager for Southeast Asia. "We want to spread out the events, and be more directly in touch with the crowds, as a way of thanking the fans for the tremendous support we’ve received over the past few years."

This season, the madness starts with viewing parties on May 29 and June 9, to coincide with the finals. In previous years, ESPN would hold NBA season opening or finals viewing parties at the Glorietta Cinemas. This year, the NBA will be working with Solar Sports, which broadcasts the games in the Philippines.

A week after, NBA Madness goes back to its beginnings, hitting the malls once again, bringing the games and mystique of the world’s most popular basketball league directly to its fans.

"We’re still working out the details, but we’ll probably have another set of cheerleaders, and hopefully one or two NBA players," Singson confirmed.

In the past, NBA Madness has been graced by the Golden State Warrior Girls and Los Angeles Laker Girls, as well. This time around, the event climaxes on July 22 with a celebrity game inside Araneta Coliseum, with your favorite sports, music and entertainment celebrities showing their hoops skills, and possibly attired in the uniforms of the NBA teams that make the finals. This early, a few known personalities have already asked if they could suit up.

In other words, the madness bridges our local summer with the international summer vacation.

When asked if it would be possible to hold an NBA game here, Singson says it’s harder than it looks, but he’s working on it.

"When we held the NBA China Games (in October of 2004), that took a year to plan," says Singson, who is based in Hong Kong. "We had to fly in two teams, entertainers, the court, merchandise, security, and on-ground personnel. This year, many of the NBA players are part of the USA Basketball pool to the World Championships, so it was hard to schedule a trip to Asia."

In 2004, the two games (one each in Shanghai and Beijing) required nightmarish logistics for the NBA and over 300 persons flown to both venues in two chartered jets.

Most of the USA Basketball stars will be in the region for tune-up and tournament games in China, Japan and Korea, with a brief break in Hong Kong in between. This has made it particularly challenging to schedule a player visit to the Philippines. Unfortunately, other events involving NBA players in the region do not line up with the planned NBA Madness. But Singson says there’s still hope.

"Something might just open up, there’s still a big chance we can bring somebody here," he continues.

Incidentally, Singson clarifies that the NBA is not involved with the "Bad Boy Tour" that is scheduled to play the Philippine national team at the Araneta Coliseum on Monday. According to Singson, the games are not an NBA event, but an independent project of a private promoter. Singson said NBA officials don’t mind the association, except for the fact that the public is under the impression that the games are being played under the direction of the league itself, and says that no coordination has taken place with any NBA personnel.

"It’s not an NBA event," Singson stresses. "It’s understandable that there’s a demand for NBA legends to see action here. But the league itself is not involved. The NBA has other activities planned, and hopes to expand its presence in the Philippines. the fans here are great."

One of the ideas NBA Asia has been toying with is bringing NBA Madness (and the visiting players and cheerleaders) outside of Metro Manila, perhaps to Cebu or Boracay. Their only concern would be the transportation costs that would multiply because of all the equipment and paraphernalia needed, and the sponsorships.

"In other countries, it seems to be easier to get sponsors on a long-term basis, say, three years or so," Singson explains. "We hope that, eventually, local companies will find it beneficial to do the same. We’re going to be here for a while," he smiles.

When that happens, the madness will never end.

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Beginning next week, The Basketball Show will move to a new timeslot, every Sunday at 2 p.m., over RPN 9. This is in response to numerous requests from the program’s younger fans to see all their favorite basketball players personally answer their fan mail on a weekly basis.