Who knew the NBA lock-out would be a blessing in disguise for all Filipinos?
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| Image credit: mylot.com |
This weekend, big names such as Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers), Derek Fisher (Los Angeles Lakers), Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets), Javale McGee (Washington Wizards), Tyreke Evans (Sacramento Kings), Derrick Williams (Minnesota Timberwolves), James Harden (Oklahoma Thunder), Kevin Durant (Oklahoma Thunder) and Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls) arrived in Philippine shores to play in a 2-game extravaganza at the Araneta Coliseum. The event was so electrifying that it was dubbed 'Thrilla in Manila 2'!
Thrilla in Manila was the fight of the century, the third and final famous boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier for the Heavyweight Boxing Championship of the World at the Araneta Coliseum on 1 October 1975.
Tickets to this NBA All Star event ranged from P350 ($10) to P5,700 ($150). But for some reason, the good tickets disappeared and became available only at the hands of scalpers who sold the P5,700 ($150) seats for as high as P25,000 ($650)! Wow.
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| So blessed to have good seats.. Thank you for letting me tag along T! |
On the day itself, it was really crazy outside. Everyone wanted to get in, everyone wanted to buy a ticket, everyone wanted to see the NBA idols. But because there weren't enough tickets for everyone (even for the topmost area) and people were cutting in line, the crowd outside turned into a mob!
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| The Araneta Coliseum was packed! |
With something as epic as this, the best way to tell the story is through photos. So here are some of the photos I took during the game. T has good videos of the game, too, thanks to his Flip. I'll try to post them next time because it'll take a while to upload all of the videos.
Excuse the watermarks. I usually place them in some inconspicuous place in photos but I don't have the time to do it tonight. Tired from an action filled weekend! :)
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| McGee was the first one to warm up. |
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| Everybody was chanting "MVP! MVP!" when Derrick Rose arrived. |
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| Spot Kevin Durant still wearing his backpack while warming up. |
After warming up, the NBA players went back to the lockers. The lights were dimmed and they were introduced one by one. The crowd cheered for each player.
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| Last to be introduced was Kobe Bryant.. The crowd went wild! |
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| Kobe Bryant greeting the Filipinos again. He was just here a few weeks ago for another event. |
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| Kris Lawrence singing the Star Spangled Banner. |
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| The New Born Divas singing the Philippine National Anthem. |
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| Chris Paul eyeing the beauty queens. Haha! |
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| Manny Pangilinan and Jorge Araneta, thank you for bringing the NBA stars to the Philippines! |
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| The game is about to start. |
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| Manny Pangilinan about to throw the ball. |
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| Sonny Thoss and Javale McGee jumping for the ball. |
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| First dunk by Kobe Bryant.. The crowd loved it! |
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| Javale McGee for 2! |
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| Free throw. |
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| The 1st quarter ended with the NBA team leading only by 4 points. |
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| But by the end of the 2nd quarter, the NBA team was leading by 16 points! |
Half time was spent with a 3 point shoot out between 2 players from the NBA vs 2 players from the Philippine team.
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| James Harden was the first to shoot for the NBA. |
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| Chris Paul was up next. |
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| 3rd quarter action. |
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| Setting up for a dunk. |
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| And boom! |
The day before the game, Javale McGee tweeted:
If I dunk on somebody today I'm gonna _________!!!! Fill in the blank!!-P
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| And he did! After dunking, he want planking! :)) |
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| James Harden setting himself up to dunk. |
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| Here we go.. |
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| BOOM! |
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| More dunking action. |
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| NBA-Smart team won (obviously)! |
This weekend was a surreal experience. Seeing all of the players on the court live and up close was indescribable. And to think, I'm not even a die-hard NBA fan. I can't begin to imagine what the boys must feel. Probably been heaven for them! :)
I have a feeling everyone's going to hate this coming Monday so much after an action-packed weekend. How about you? How did you spend your weekend?
