The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current, September 04, 2023, Page 5, Image 5

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    ASIA / PACIFIC
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 5
AP Photo/Tim Reynolds
September 4, 2023
GIVING BACK. Miami Heat coach and USA Basketball assistant Erik Spoelstra, seated at center in the front
row, poses with campers and clinic staff after a basketball clinic in Manila, the Philippines. Spoelstra, whose
mother hails from the Philippines, is back there for the first time in 11 years during the World Cup.
Erik Spoelstra believes coaching
in the Philippines at the World
Cup is a perfect homecoming
By Tim Reynolds
ANILA, The Philippines — Erik
Spoelstra had a plan. He was
going to finish college and head
to the Philippines to play professional
basketball in his mother’s homeland. He’d
been watching games from that part of the
world on VHS tapes for years and wanted
to experience those atmospheres for
himself.
The plan changed. The paperwork he
needed to play in the Philippines got
delayed, so he played in Germany instead.
And after a little time there, he got a
chance to interview for a video-room job
with the Miami Heat. The rest is history.
He never got to Manila as a player.
But last month, 30 years or so behind his
original schedule, Spoelstra had a game
awaiting in the Philippines. He’s an
assistant coach for USA Basketball, which
won its World Cup opener in Manila
against New Zealand, 99-72. Spoelstra
wore the red, white, and blue of the U.S. —
in an arena where the blue, red, and white
of the Philippines flag swayed. And, after
thousands of games he’s been part of in his
life as a coach and player, this one had a
certain significance.
“I have a great deal of pride in my
heritage and I’m close with my family over
here,” said Spoelstra, the Heat coach who
took his team to the NBA Finals this past
season. “When I first started coming over, I
just wanted to give back and do as much as
I could, in terms of clinics and continue to
grow the game and just be involved in the
movement. That’s what I call it. Basketball
really is like a religion in the Philippines.”
If it is a religion, then he may as well be
considered one of its saints. He is an icon in
the Philippines because of his heritage.
Walk off the elevator at the hotel, someone
wants a photo. Walk down the street,
someone wants a photo. Go into a
restaurant, someone wants a photo.
Having Team USA play anywhere is a
big deal, but in Manila, the biggest star on
the American roster sure seems to be a
52-year-old assistant coach.
“It’s a very cool thing that he’s doing
this,” said fellow U.S. assistant coach
Tyronn Lue, the coach of the Los Angeles
Clippers. “He gets a chance to go home, see
his family, see his fans. It reminds me a lot
of when we went to China with Yao Ming
when we were in Houston. That was crazy.
It’s the same type of thing and he deserves
it. It’s so cool to see it and be a part of it.”
A day after arriving in Manila, Spoelstra
led a clinic for about 40 elite high school
and college players, both men’s and
women’s. The clinic had some local staff
helping out. One of the coaches in
attendance was actually one of the kids
who was taught by Spoelstra at another
clinic a decade or so ago.
It’s proof that his mission — to grow the
game there — is working.
“I never played in the PBA like I wanted,
but I ended up getting to share the game in
M
AP Photo/Aaron Favila
The Associated Press
a different way,” Spoelstra said. “And
that’s a beautiful thing as well. It didn’t
need to be me playing. It worked with me
going back and giving back and still
getting to do this.”
Spoelstra has many stories from past
trips that he’s made to the Philippines as
the Heat coach.
The Larry O’Brien Trophy — he’s won
two as a head coach — has made the trip
with him in the past. Spoelstra has led
dozens of clinics, many of them in
less-than-ideal circumstances. No air
conditioning, sometimes no gym, and they
were often completely overbooked. One of
his favorites he said was a day where about
1,000 people showed up for a clinic on two
courts, with four basketballs and 10
staffers, some of whom might have been
worried when the campers started rocking
the bus when Spoelstra pulled up. They
figured it out that day, just like they did
another time where there were no
basketballs. That entire clinic became
about footwork, jump stops, head fakes,
and pivoting. Nobody missed a shot.
Nobody took a shot. And Spoelstra said
nobody complained.
“I’d tell the NBA on those trips that I
wanted to do as many clinics per day as
possible,” Spoelstra said. “I’d tell them not
to worry about fatigue. Fatigue would not
stop us.”
And when fatigue set in, there would be
sustenance, Uncle Tony style.
Spoelstra and those he’d bring with him
on those trips — mostly Heat staff — would
always end up taking a long ride to Tony
Celino’s house at some point for a party.
Uncle Tony. In Spoelstra’s mind, Uncle
Tony makes the best lumpia (a type of
spring roll) in the world. And if you were
going to hang out at Uncle Tony’s, you were
required to do a shot of his other specialty,
coconut moonshine. It’s even made it over
to the U.S. It’s legendary within Spoelstra’s
innermost circles. When Uncle Tony gets to
Manila, it’s a safe bet some of his concoction
will be along for the ride.
“It’s one thing to tell people about what
it’s like to go there, see my family, the
clinics, see all that the Philippines has to
offer,” Spoelstra said. “They get it when
they experience it. And it’s brought me
great joy.”
Coming back to the Philippines is not,
technically, a homecoming for Spoelstra.
He’s not from here. He wasn’t born here.
He’s never lived here. None of that seems
to matter. For this World Cup in Manila,
halfway around the world from where he
lives, Spoelstra is right at home.
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