“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, drafting an article for a local literary magazine. He knew I disliked being disturbed while writing in my room, but hey—this was about basketball. And I love basketball.
Nathaniel is just as crazy about the sport as any boy his age. He loves playing pickup games with the neighborhood kids on an uncovered court in our subdivision, doing his absolute best to emulate his idols, Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics. He is also an avid follower of Philippine basketball, tracking the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and even the collegiate leagues.
His love for the game deepened when his aunt bought him his first real basketball. That same year, I brought him to the PBA rookie draft at Robinsons Place in Ermita, Manila, where he got to meet some of his favorite players in person. He enjoyed the experience so much that the following year, he went to the draft all by himself—I was tied up with a busy work schedule—to watch favorite collegiate playmakers like Calvin Abueva and Chris Tiu get drafted into the professional league.
