MANILA, Philippines - Louie Alas may get the rare chance to coach Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant in an exhibition game in Singapore on July 22 but that’s if Asean Basketball League (ABL) Philippine franchise co-owner Mikee Romero has his way.
Romero has been advised by ABL chairman Tony Fernandes of Malaysia to make available Filipino players for a 20-minute game with Bryant during the NBA Finals MVP’s one-day visit to Singapore.
Fernandes’ idea is to promote the ABL, which opens its first season on Oct. 1 in Singapore, by forming a selection, led by Bryant, to play the Singapore Slingers. The ABL team will be composed of Indonesian, Malaysian, Thai and Filipino players reinforced by Bryant.
Romero said the local cagers who may play in the exhibition are Al Vergara, Jerwin Gaco, Sam Ekwe and Patrick Cabahug. Vergara will likely join the Slingers, with whom he has played before, while the rest will suit up for the ABL squad with Bryant.
.”We have a great opportunity to promote the ABL,” said Kuhan Foo of Malaysia. “Nike is bringing down Kobe for a promo on July 22. They want to organize a short 20-minute exhibition game between the Slingers and an ABL selection.”
Romero said he requested the ABL officials to designate a Filipino coach for the selection. He has nominated Alas, a multi-titled NCAA coach with Letran. Alas, 45, has coached in the PBA and PBL and in 1999, led the Manila Metrostars to 22 straight wins en route to capturing the MBA crown. Alas was Junel Baculi’s assistant when the Philippine team, managed by Romero, won the Southeast Asian Games basketball gold medal in Thailand in 2007. The other coaching candidate is from Indonesia.
Alas recently agreed to coach the Philippine team, co-owned by Romero and Tony Boy Cojuangco, in the ABL.
Singapore is Bryant’s second stop in a whirlwind six-city Asian tour to kick off in Manila on July 21. From Singapore, he will travel to Taipei, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Chengdu.
It will be Bryant’s third trip to Manila after 1998 and 2007.
Nike said the tour was developed “as an opportunity for Kobe to meet with kids throughout Asia to inspire, energize and improve their basketball skills... (this) offers Kobe a chance to check back in with the young players he met on previous tours and meet up-and-coming players whom he hopes to inspire.”
Bryant said: “I’m looking forward to returning to Asia to see the progress the kids have made since my last visit ... I liked what I saw then and I’m planning to work the kids even harder to give them a better sense of the dedication and hard work it takes to be a champion.”
During the tour, Bryant is expected to promote his new signature shoe, the Nike Dream Season, which will be sold exclusively in Asia. The shoe was designed with insights from Bryant and developed to suit the requirements of outdoor basketball players in Asia.
In Manila, Bryant will be introduced at a 12:30 p.m. press conference in the Manila Peninsula Hotel on July 21. Then, he will attend a 2:30 p.m. charity event in Nike Park at the Fort. Bryant will be whisked to the ULTRA for a 3 p.m. basketball camp to cap his one-day visit.
Bryant has visited China the last three years and his fourth straight annual trip comes at the heels of an award he accepted a few weeks ago in Los Angeles from the Asia Society as a “cultural ambassador” in the presence of Liu Peng, China’s secretary of sport and a member of the Communist Party Central Committee.
Alan Paul of the Wall Street Journal said with sales exceeding $1 billion, China is now Nike’s second largest market outside the US.
Bryant’s own Family Foundation pays the salaries of four teachers who will teach Mandarin and Chinese culture to middle-school students this fall in Los Angeles.
“I want to help these kids see the possibilities of China and just understand that the world is much, much bigger than what they see around them,” said Bryant, quoted by Paul. “It helps to show them that anything is possible and they should not be afraid to dream big. You’re not just locked into one city.”
Bryant recently established the Kobe Bryant China Fund that will partner with the Soong Ching Ling Foundation, a charity backed by government, to raise funds earmarked for education and health.
Donald Tang, who will manage the China Fund, called Bryant “a one-man State Department, reaching directly to the people.”
Terry Rhoads, the American manager of a Shanghai sports consulting firm, said, “Chinese fans adore Kobe on the court but they also want to see affection for Chinese culture and people – the more he spends time in China, the more he will endear himself to millions of basketball-loving Chinese.”