 The Philippines, home to 100 million people, the 8th most populated country in the world, home to Lumpia, Adobo, and many back gal. Above all the many beautiful things to love in the Philippines, there's one thing that's loved more than anything else. Basketball. There isn't anything quite like it. This country is obsessed, no, addicted to basketball. Anywhere you go, any neighborhood, any barangay, you will find a basketball court. Filipinos will play on anything, even if there isn't a wood or cement floor. Filipinos will play on grass, soil, even sand. And everyone plays big, small, short, tall, poor, rich. You'll find players wearing shoes, tinellas, and even bare feet. You see, it doesn't matter who you were before you stepped on the court. All that matters is your game. You know how much Americans love American football? Well, multiply that by 10 times. The passion for the sport is real. The only thing I can quite compare to is Argentina or Brazil's love for football, where the love for the sport is almost a religion over there. For the sake of numbers, Nike once estimated that 40% of the population of the Philippines plays basketball, and 81% in total are basketball fans. That's approximately 81 million hoop-balling fans. This begs the question, why? Why do Filipinos love basketball so much? Well, there's the obvious answer, duh, because it's fun. Alright, case closed, thanks for watching my video, subscribe and hit that notification bell for no, that's not a good enough answer, because you know what else is fun? Football, or soccer for my American viewers. The most popular sport in the world, bar none. Football is so popular, and estimated 4 billion people, more than half the world's population, are football fans. So why didn't this football fever convert well into Philippines? Why is basketball so different for Filipinos? To better answer this question, we have to go back. 1898 marked the beginning of the Spanish-American War, where after the Battle of Manila, Americans took control of the city, and then with the Treaty of Paris, the whole country of the Philippines, thus Spain relinquished control of the Philippines to the United States for 20 million dollars, which is 600 million in today's money. During this period, basketball was brought over by the Americans. Basketball started in 1910, where it was actually introduced to public schools as a women's sport, because men's sports, like baseball and track, were deemed too rough and intense for women. The Philippines quickly established itself in the sport. In 1936, in their first Olympic showing, the Filipino basketball team came in fifth place, which to this day is still the best placing for an Asian team. They then won gold in the first Asia Games in 1951, and then won bronze in the FIBA 1954 World Championships, which, again, has not been eclipsed by another Asian country until this day. For the next 20 years, the Philippines dominated Asia and basketball, winning gold in the FIBA Asia Tournaments in 1960, 1963, 1967, 1973, and 1985, and then winning silver in 1965 and 1971. It was during this time that the basketball craze was at an all-time high. The Philippines then formed the PBA, or the Philippines Basketball Association, the oldest running professional basketball league in the world, after the NBA, bringing us Filipino all-time greats like Ramon Pernandez, Philip Cesar, Boggs Contenado, and Robert Drowarski. When we were liberated from Spain, the removal of colonization left behind a large void. In 1934, the Philippines was nothing more than a collection of islands, ethnicities, and diverse cultural identities. And while the government would try and fill that void in a political and legal sense, it was basketball that became that cultural glue for our newly born country. In a country where there are literally hundreds of different languages and everyone sort of has their own local and regional connections, basketball became one thing that people could look to and say, we are Filipino and this is something that we are really good at right now. And basketball in turn is linked with our unity as Filipinos. The Filipino cultural identity was basically born from basketball. That's why for a lot of us, basketball is more than just a game. If you're familiar with the economy of the Philippines, it's not an understatement to say it's not the greatest. Most of the time, you die in the same economic status that you were born in. The state of the economy makes it hard to advance socially and financially. This is where basketball comes in. Ryan Rhett from case2et.org states, professional basketball offers a means to ascend the Filipino social ladder in ways that it doesn't elsewhere. Former PBA players go on to elected office, television and film stardom, or business success. For boys, basketball serves as a right of passage, strategy for achieving masculinity and a way to bypass economic barriers. Everybody plays and watches the sport from the poorest manila trader to its wealthiest businessman. Now, the last and most obvious answer is the accessibility with sports like baseball, hockey or golf. You need equipment and facilities. Baseball has batting and catching equipment, not to mention the huge field. Hockey requires an ice rink, ludicrous on a Pacific island and golf needs acres upon acres of land, as well as golf clubs and other equipment costing easily hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Basketball, all you need is a court and a ball, which is ideal for the Philippines economic climate. As of today, the Philippines is ranked 31st out of 165 countries. This makes them the third highest ranked Asian country. How did a country that was basically born from basketball and went from dominating the rest of Asia to 31st place? There are many reasons and the most obvious answer might be the biggest, or in this case, the smallest, our height. Basketball obviously is a tall man's game and Filipinos aren't known for being vertically gifted, with the average Filipino standing at 5'4 or 163 centimeters. The average PBA player of today naturally stands a bit taller at 6'3 or 190 centimeters, which was not as big as a problem back in the 50s when the average NBA player stood at 6'2 or 187 centimeters. And while the rest of the professional world grew, the Philippines remained short. Today, the average NBA player measures 6'7 or 200 centimeters with forwards easily surpassing that. Could you imagine how well the standard PBA player would fair against someone like Shaquille O'Neal, who in his prime stood at 7'1 and weighed in at 300 pounds? At that difference, he would absolutely feast in the paint. And there wouldn't be anything a Filipino player could do except foul him and pray that he missed his free throws. With the rest of the world making great strides in basketball, the Philippines has one dream that burns bright in a lot of people's hearts, having a homegrown Filipino playing the NBA. Now the NBA is clearly the meridian of professional basketball. There is no higher level of basketball. Granted, there have been players with Filipino blood in the NBA. Raymond Townsend became the first Filipino to ever play in the NBA, playing for the Golden State Warriors in 1978. We also have Jordan Clarkson, who started his career on the Lakers and currently plays for the Cavaliers. And as a joke, a lot of Filipinos like to include Nate Robinson, who's great, great grandfather was Filipino, which comes out to about 6%. That makes him an honorary Filipino, I guess. But we still find ourselves waiting for our own Stefan Troc or Manny Pacquiao to grace the cords of professional American basketball. Will there ever be a native homegrown Filipino NBA player? Many have tried, notably Jaapeth Aguilar and Bobby Ray Barks Jr. of the PBA. Bobby actually played for the Texas Legends in the NBA G League, but none yet who have made it into the big leagues. I was actually able to speak with Raymond Townsend. The first Filipino basketball player to ever play in the NBA. Is a Filipino who's considered one of the best players in the history of the PBA going to put his reputation out there to possibly get cut by the Brooklyn Nets or the Orlando Magic or Sacramento Kings or the Phoenix Suns? Yeah. You know, are they going to sit there and have the rest of their life, you know, so-and-so is one of the best Filipinos to ever play in the PBA, but can't even make the NBA, but could never make the NBA and got cut in, you know, 2025 with the Phoenix Suns. So it's not a it's not a question of talent. It's a question of like fear or courage. Nobody's ever done it for anybody else because with being the first, there's a lot of doubt. I was told I'd never make it. There's a lot of negative know the heart of a Filipino. So who's next? For the time being, the hopes and dreams of the country rest on these few players. First, there's Kobe Paras. Yes, named after the Kobe. His father was a PBA player and claimed the title of the youngest MVP of all time, having been born in the ball life. He basically eats, breathes and lives basketball. He had a stint with Creighton and CSUN and even once dunked on the brawn. And then there's Terence Romeo, one of the best guards in the PBA with quick as lightning reflexes and handles for days. Basically the Allen Iverson or the Kyrie Irving of the PBA. And then there's Junmar Fajardo, the current MVP of the PBA and arguably the best player in its history. He has the most MVPs in PBA history with five. He has amazing talent. And if he ever wanted to, critics say he would have a good shot in the NBA. However, most people agree it's going to be this kid. 16 year old Kai Soto. He's already 7'2", and has been dubbed the future of Asian basketball. And it was reported that Real Madrid offered him $1 million to join their basketball team. Supposedly FC Barcelona, Sasuke Baskonia and Alba Berlin have also expressed interest. By all accounts, he's a basketball prodigy. He's currently averaging 25.1 points per game, 13.9 rebounds per game and 2.6 blocks per game. In a two game stretch against Japan and China, he scored 54 points, 42 rebounds and 9 block shots. He's got so much potential that he's projected to be on the final roster of the National Basketball Philippines team for the World Cup where he would be playing against NBA and other professional players around the world. As a 16 year old boy, let that sink in. Barring some crazy injury, this kid's chances of making the NBA are all but guaranteed. So mark your calendars boys and girls because in 2021, or whenever his contract with his European team expires, the Philippines is getting an NBA player. He is the future of Asian basketball. These are exciting times for Filipino basketball fans. I for one can't wait to see what the future holds for the country whose heart beats like the bouncing of a basketball. Remember to check out Pacific rims, Bierman, Bollin and Flip Flops, the Philippines unlikely love affair with basketball. On Amazon, Rave goes on a lot more in depth into the analysis of Filipino basketball and the love Filipinos have for basketball. If you liked what you saw or learned, give my video a thumbs up and hit the subscribe button. And remember, Dwayne Wade should have won the MVP in 2009. I'm still salty about that.