Yesterday, the Philippine men‘s national basketball teambattled against the Shanghai Sharks in an exhibition game at the Mall of Asia Arena. But with all the basketball happening on the court, one guy stands out among the crowd. I mean he literally stands out. That person was Yao Ming, the former Houston Rockets center who is the owner of the team he played for before he was drafted by the Rockets #1 overall in 2002.
Yao and the Sharks arrived in Manila over the weekend, where Yao met with Vice President Jejomar Binay for “Basketball diplomacy”as well as conducting basketball clinics to aspiring Filipino basketball players before his Sharks played against the national team yesterday. The national team would end up defeating the Sharks 80-72. When I said he stands out, he really is as shown on this photo with the Vice President.
I may not have seen him when the opportunity was within reach. But definitely, I hope I will get to see him very soon. He’s one of those guys you’ll love and look up even if his basketball career was cut drastically short.