In one part of the multiverse, Kobe Paras could have been cooking. And it's not like "Chef" Curry, cutting screens, dishing assists, and sprinkling threes.
Like an actual chef. In the kitchen.
The basketball player shared his dream in a Mega interview on Saturday, as he looked back on the career he's had so far. Being the son of only PBA Rookie-MVP Benjie Paras essentially spelled out his destiny.
But what first gave him joy was food.
"Cooking gave me a lot of joy. My dad knows I wanted to go to culinary school, but you know, plans changed," Paras told Mega.
The young Kobe would still sneak into the kitchen when everyone else was asleep, dig up the fridge for beef, sauté bell peppers and garlic, and add some cheese for a late-night steak sandwich.
He apparently nearly burnt the house down and cut his fingers when he was around nine, the article reported.
"I eat a lot, I mean, I’m a big boy."
Paras would continue to gush about the best cook any Filipino would have—their grandmother.
"She used to cook for us every day, and she made the best sinangag rice and corned beef. And she used to make this monggo soup that’s different from the others I’ve tasted," he said.
Paras did learn to cook sinigang and adobo, thanks to culinary classes. But he always knew that basketball would be first. It was, after all, what he was "born to do."
"I knew I’d have a future with basketball,” he said. “I realized that I was also better at it. It just made a lot of sense."
There were a lot of eyes on Paras as he tried to make it into the United States, suiting up for the Creighton Bluejays before he eventually wore the maroon of the University of the Philippines.
He's worn the Gilas Pilipinas jersey multiple times as well, getting the gold in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games.
Now he's making his way in Japan, as he played for the Niigata Albirex and Altiri Chiba in the B.League.
Whatever Kobe Paras chooses to make himself and his career, we only have this to say.
