According to the former NBA star, the Chinese men’s basketball team would’ve been undefeated had they possessed this specific Filipino component.
The PBA representatives in the East Asia Super League (EASL) Champions Week didn’t do very well as both the TNT Tropang Giga and the San Miguel Beermen were eliminated in embarrassing fashion. But EASL CEO and co-founder Matt Beyer is still a huge believer in Philippine basketball.
On the sports talk show "Power and Play" hosted by Noli Eala, the EASL chief revealed plans of expansion, which includes inviting more PBA teams in the regional tournament, and even hosting its Final Four round in Manila. As he talked about harnessing the Philippines’ unrivaled passion for the game, Beyer mentioned what former NBA star and Asian hoops icon Yao Ming told him about Filipino basketball fans.
“One of the most memorable things that the commissioner of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and NBA legend Yao Ming said to me was ‘If we had the fans that the Philippines have, we would never lose at a national team level,’” Beyer candidly told Eala.
The EASL head honcho, who formerly served as a sports agent signing talents to the CBA, is looking forward to working with Asia’s first pro league in the coming years. According to him, it’s quite impossible to organize a basketball summit in this part of the world without including the game’s most devoted supporters.
“There’s no regional basketball party without Philippine fans,” Beyer conceded.