Ex-NBA lockdown defender Bruce Bowen stresses importance of self-trust

MANILA, Philippines — Bruce Bowen’s basketball resumé is far from the likes that enter the record books. He barely piled the points. He was neither a sharpshooter, nor a consistent producer of highlight clips.

Heck, he only normed 6.1 points and 2.8 rebounds in his 14 years in the NBA.

But entering the NBA as a nobody and leaving it as one of the league’s most prolific defenders, Bowen scripted quite the story.

His reputation as a lockdown defender helped the Spurs cement their place among the dynasties that roamed the modern NBA. The California native belonged to three iterations of the San Antonio squad that won titles — 2003, 2005 and 2005.

A big part of that success, according to Bowen, is trusting yourself.

“You have to understand that only you could limit yourself to what you want to accomplish in life,” the retired cager said during a media event at a hotel in Ortigas on Thursday.

“It’s really important to have an optimistic attitude in anything that you do — whether it’s sports, whether it’s education, whether it’s business,” Bowen, now 46, continued.

Bowen’s shiniest entry in his resumé is his five consecutive years of inclusion in the NBA’s All-Defensive Team, but all that didn’t come easy. He had to endure five years overseas before finding a team at home.

“Yes, shots may not fall at all times but you know you have something there — you have to believe in it, you have to put in the work,” he pointed out.

“And when you put in the work and you see things happen, it’s at that moment is not the time you say OK I’ve arrived, it’s that moment you work even harder to make sure that you can cement your place — wherever it is — in what you’re doing,” he closed.

Bowen, whose jersey No. 12 had been retired by the Spurs, is in town to join NBA Philippines and its fans in the viewing parties for Games One and Two of the Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers.

The renowned defender will be at the festivities on June 1 at the Eastwood City Mall activity center, and on June 4 at the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in Glorietta 2.

Bowen will also make a stop at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines as part of the league’s global NBA Cares efforts.