Team USA went back home without a medal, but with tons of love and admiration from Filipino basketball fans, who supported them all the way to the Final 4 of the recently concluded FIBA World Cup.
“Thank you, Manila (Philippines), it said on its Facebook post. “Your love for the game is unrivaled. #USABMNT out .”
Although they fell short and placed fourth place after that disappointing loss to Canada, the Americans were still thankful of the fans’ support at the Mall of Asia.
It was a slight improvement from their 7th-place finish in the 2019 World Cup in China, but it was still a big letdown for fans back home, expecting more from an all-NBA squad in the biggest basketball showpiece topped by Germany.
In their Manila experience, the Americans were cheered on whenever they set foot on the court. The biggest applause was reserved for Austin Reaves, who may not be the biggest star in the Team USA, but somehow caught the fancy of the Filipino fans probably because of his Lakers’ pedigree, shooting skills, and good looks.
There were players who went out of their way to repay the love the Filipinos have shown for the sport, like Italy’s Gigi Dateo and Gilas Pilipinas’ Jordan Clarkson, who treated fans and kids in Tenement in Taguig to free basketball shows and giveaways.
The most magnanimous of them all, however, was Slovenian Luka Doncic, who threw his pair of shoes to the fans at the lower level and later gave his Player of the Game trophy to the ecstatic parents of a kid who was named after the Mavericks’ star.
“Luka, I was named after you,” was the poster waved by the boy’s mother, wife of former La Salle cager Prince Rivero.
Doncic saw it and asked a team assistant to hand over the best player trophy to Rivero, who was carrying his son, after Slovenia’s final game in the classification where the Mavs’ star scored 29 points in an 89-85 win over Italy for Slovenia’s seventh place finish.