“DAD,
can we watch this Ginebra game again in Araneta next week?” my teenage son
Nathaniel asked me one night. I was working on my laptop for my article to a
local literary magazine. He knew I don’t like to be disturbed when I was doing that in
my room but, hey, it’s about basketball. And I love basketball.
Nathaniel
is as crazy as some boys of his age about the sports. He loves to play hustle games
with his neighbor friends at an uncovered court in our subdivision, trying the best way he
can to play like his idol Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics.
And he is also a fan of Philippine
basketball, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and even the collegiate
leagues.
His
love for the game heightened when his aunt bought him his own basketball, and I
think it was in the same year when I brought him to a PBA rookie draft at
Robinson’s Place in Ermita, Manila and he got the chance to meet in person some of
his favorite PBA players. I’m sure he enjoyed the experience so much that in
the rookie draft the following year, he went by himself (I had a busy schedule
at work then) to the same venue and watched how some of his favorite collegiate
playmakers, such as Calvin Abueva and Chris Tiu, were drafted to the
professional league.
