Jr. NBA delegates cheer for Nets, Kings at courtside

BEIJING, China – The Jr. NBA and Jr. WNBA participants capped off their memorable China visit by getting the opportunity to watch the Brooklyn Nets and the Sacramento Kings in an NBA Global Games at the Mastercard Center of this Chinese capital.

The Nets went on to beat the Kings, 129-117, in overtime, to the delight of not just the native crowd but the Jr. NBA, Jr. WNBA All-Stars as well including the basketball-loving Filipinos, whose five-day trip was bankrolled by Alaska Milk and sanctioned by the NBA.

It didn’t matter that Brooklyn coach Lionel Hollins future Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett, who was sat out the whole game despite repeated plodding from the enthusiastic crowd, which kept screaming “KG! KG! KG!” at every  time out of dead ball situation.

“It’s a dream come true for me just seeing my idol (Garnett) although it would have been better if he played,” said 14-year-old Jan Cyril Narvasa, who was a member of the 14-man team that represented the country in this annual Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA event, in Filipino.

DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento’s franchise player, was in uniform but also didn’t play as he was rested.

Outside Garnett, the Nets’ Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Andrei Kirilenko and the Kings’ Rudy Gay got a share of the cheers from the almost 70 boys and girls of the Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA programs, which have just concluded its seventh staging.

There were also some legends in attendance, including Chinese legend Yao Ming and Vlade Divac, who paid the Jr. NBA and Jr. WNBA players during their scrimmages alongside select players from the NBA Yao School the night before.

Shaquille O’Neal, rival of the 7-6 Yao during the latter’s storied but short-lived NBA career, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin, a member of the United States original Dream Team, were also present.

“I never thought I see Shaq (O’Neal) in my life,” said Jr. NBA Phl boys coach Cliff Andy Tecocan in Filipino.

Just like the initial scrimmage the day before, the Filipinos dominated the boys’ 3x3 and 5x5 scrimmages conducted by NBA Asia vice president for basketball operations Chris Sumner at the NBA Yao School.

La Salle-Greenhills’ Luigi Velasco and Ateneo High-bound SG Belangel were the biggest standouts although Iloilo’s Vince Dolendo, David Umadhay and Andrew Vincent Velasco, Zamboanga’s Rhayyan Amsali, Cebu’s Jethro Rocamora, and Manila’s Paul Mathew Manalang and Jan Cyril Narvasa also stood out from the rest.

The girls were not to be outdone in the women’s side although Thailand fared better than the Phl team composed of Kreecie Binaohan, Arielle Marie Lanot, Roxanne Salvador, Karl Ann Pingol and MJ Pascual and coached by Pia Lu Dysangco.

Aside from seeing NBA stars, everyone had the chance to see the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City and some famous sites in Beijing.