Being Filipino in the NBA
“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds aren’t in your favor” – Elon Musk
I often still wake up in awe when I think about the fact that I am, in fact, the first Filipino, raised and educated in the Philippines, to be in the NBA. I may not be a player, I may not even be a coach, but I spend my (game) nights on an NBA sanctioned wooden floor, with NBA employed players, being broadcasted by NBA partnered television channels. And I’m the first Filipino to do it. I may have been born in the United States, but I carry a Filipino passport, spent some of my growing years in Matina, in Davao City, along Pasong Tamo in Makati City, and Alabang in Muntinlupa City (among many other places). I am an Atenean, an Augustinian, a La Sallian, a Maroon (among many other schools attended). When I get asked by players, coaches, and even kitchen staff where I’m from, I tell them I’m from the Philippines. I tell them I’m from the same group of 7,107 islands that Boxing Champion, Manny Pacquiao, is from. I educate everyone about why I may have chinky eyes and tan skin, but have a spanish last name and have no problems singing or dancing with the best of them. It has not only been my honor to represent an entire nation, an entrée culture, but a responsibility.
The Journey
“How did you get there?” I’ve been asked this question thousands of times now. My answer surprisingly came to me in the purest of forms during my first interview (link Don Tagala’s interview) just a few weeks after I had officially signed my NBA contract with the New York Knicks — I said simply, “You visualize it, You prepare for the path that gets you there, and You manifest it.”
I was 18 when I first thought the idea of becoming the first Filipino Medical Professional, raised and educated in the Philippines, to be working full-time in the NBA. Never in my wildest dreams that I’d actually be the first Filipino, in general, to be in the NBA (Johnny Abarrientos was close, but he got cut from the team even before getting a chance to slip on a proper “official” uniform). The ironic thing is that I already broke ground in 2006, being the first Filipino, raised and educated in the Philippines, to find himself in Major League Baseball, as the Rehabilitation Director of the Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball Club. The “major” difference? Filipinos don’t really watch baseball. It’s not that we don’t like the sport, we just didn’t grow up with it. (that itself is an ironic story, because baseball was actually the first sport introduced by the americans when we were an american colony prior to basketball which actually was a “substitute” sport during the rainy days. (see Pacific Rims). Even as I left baseball after the 2012 season, and returned to the country many times to give back through my grassroots, innovation education company KinetIQ, while living the 4-hour workweek (see Tim Ferris) and traveling around the world, it wasn’t until I found myself at Madison Square Garden, “The World’s Most Famous Arena”, during opening night, that people back home were “interested” in the purpose I had all along — To inspire young Filipinos everywhere, to tell them to dream big and take risks. It truly is awe-inspiring to realize how important basketball is to Filipinos, and how much the NBA is engrained in every household in the country. I have gone to living my life beyond mediocre (see beyond medyo) merely for myself, to suddenly being a symbol of success of a nation. This actual journey has just begun.
Bright Lights, Big City
“What’s it like?” That’s the next question I get all the time. And often times, I’m at odds at what to tell everyone. I’m not one to brag, but I sometimes feel people (especially Filipinos) wants to know the “fun” details, so I’m often torn. To answer the many questions as it relates to being in the league, I’ll often just say “Yes.” Yes — There is no other place to watch an NBA game like Madison Square Garden. Almost 20,000 fans, locals and tourists alike, fill the stands every game night, whether the team is good or not. It’s NBA at MSG in NYC. It’s thing to do…Broadway Musicals, Award-Winning Restaurants, The Empire State Building, A Yankee game, and a New York Knicks game at “The World’s Most Famous Arena”. Yes — we all travel together, players, coaches, support staff, even select media, ON A PRIVATE PLANE. One might think that flying chartered planes is a glam thing, when in fact its just more about convenience and getting to the next city as quickly as possible. That being said, I’m very fortunate to always have a good bed to sleep on, to have food everywhere we go, and see cities around the country (and the world) that perhaps I wouldn’t get the chance to on my own.
All That Glitters Isn’t Gold
As I began to elude to in the previous paragraph, though I am very blessed to to be in this league day in and day out, the many sacrifices I go through in order to be here are often unknown to those on the outside, particular to my family and friends in the Philippines.
You work every single day from October to April (and beyond if you make the playoffs). That means no weekends away with friends, kids’ graduations, parent’s birthdays, no family vacations. It’ll have to wait til summer. Remember, you work for a league that is on TV almost every single day. No matter what happens in your personal life, the show MUST go on.
You do not have your own schedule. This isn’t a part time job with all the glamorous perks. When you give your life to be part of the “team”, you quickly learn that you have to be willing to adapt to the changing schedule, often sacrificing sleep, hobbies, and once again, time with family and friends.
You become an emotional wreck. Going through an NBA season, well any season in professional sports at the highest level, means wins and losses. No matter how much you say you’re just happy to be here, you emotions will take a beating. The adrenaline rush of a win and of course, its subsequent crash. Not to mention the real state of depression you could be experiencing in a loosing season. The key is to make sure that you know who you are, you remain positive no matter what, and that you have a good support staff around you outside of sport that makes you know that there is a world out there beyond the court.
Being Filipino in the NBA isn’t any different that being Filipino in any other industry around the world. In the end of the day, it’s still WORK (even if work does involve many of your family and friends’ sports heroes). If you are truly passionate about the work you do, and aim to be the best at your craft, you will work hard to make sure the joy you get everyday you wake up continues. I give gratitude to the universe everyday for having the opportunity to live my dreams, old and new. I am humbled by the opportunities that have come my way in order to remain true to my life’s purpose. I hope that my journey, with all it’s ups and downs, continues to become a source of inspiration to those that believe that dreams do come true.
For more information on how my 1st year in the NBA went, check out my next post Reflections Of My First Year as a NY Knick
“And so, there it is — My first season as a #NYKnick, my first season in the NBA, my first season as the first ATC (period) to be on a Major League Baseball Staff in MLB and in the NBA, has come to an end. I’m truly blessed to experience #BeyondMedyo moments on an almost daily basis this season, finding myself in a constant state of #FLOW. I would have never imagined that my life would have turned out this way, yet through visualization, preparation, and manifestation, #DreamsDoComeTrue. I am one of the lucky ones, and it’s because of that, I will always be in #GRATITUDE and find ways to to #GIVEBACK. #ThatsJustHowIRoll as a #LifeHacker.”
This is what came out of my brain, by way of my fingers that evening, after the photos and the quick goodbyes, as I sat in my car to take a moment to take it all in. Being a systematic man, I felt the need for closure and/or celebration. But instead what I got was quite an abrupt, no frills finish. “Is this what it’s like?” I asked myself, comparing last games situations experienced during my years in the Major Leagues. I told myself, “Smaller group, Shorter Season, Quicker Departure” I guess we still planned for exit meetings and physicals with the guys the next two days, so it’s not done just yet.
Now that it is all said and done, I finally have time to gather my thoughts, engulf the creative energy I have surrounded myself with here at the ACE Hotel Lobby, and put it all into words.
“Once A Knick, Always A Knick”
The aforementioned saying was repeated multiple times this year. It was said when we honored Knicks alum who happened to be in the building taking a game in. It was mentioned when those who passed away were remembered. It was even mentioned when someone from another team who used to play at this magic arena came back to play our current team. All this made me appreciate the history behind the organization, the struggles it had to go through to get people in the stands, to the shift to superstardom, and the championship years of 1969-70 and 1972-1973. This team and the building they play in,“The World’s Most Famous Arena” has so much history in it, if walls could talk. Now I AM PART OF THAT HISTORY.
Conversations with the Zen Master
It was a great honor to get an opportunity to work alongside Mr (Phil) Jackson. He was one of the biggest reasons why I chose the NY Knicks out of the four (4) other teams requesting for my services. How could I pass up an opportunity to stand alongside the Greatest Of All Time on a daily basis? How can I live with myself knowing that I’d miss the chance to absorb the strength, the stillness, and the greatness of a man that helped develop and coach the two of the greatest NBA players of all time? How can I not want to learn from the ways of one of the most mindful people in the planet? It was just something I had to do, something I had to experience.
How do I sum up my first season with Mr (Phil) Jackson? It’s like working alongside Yoda that looks like Obe Wan Kenobi with the stillness of the Dalai Lama and the speaking greatness of Abraham Lincoln. I’ll let you guys imagine how that all works in your head.
5 games, 5 cities, 7 days
And I thought baseball travel was bad. The Major League Baseball season lasts a long 162 games with 30 games in Spring Training, and if you’ve been blessed, some additional days in the playoffs. Whilst the NBA schedule doesn’t last that long, the fact that you could find yourself in 5 different cities (in another side of the country) playing within a week is just NOT RIGHT. If the staff is tired, imagine what the players feel like?
It’s in understanding this travel, along with sleep pattern disruption, nutrition, practice schedules, distances covered on the court, and vitamin D deficiency, amongst other things, that I learn so much more about the concept of LOAD. Despite giving my own TEDx Talk about the concept of LOAD in our own lives even before the season started, being surrounded by both the data and its analytics on a daily basis has truly expanded my mind and allowed me to truly find my niche in the Sports Medicine industry. Remember these words: A Bio-Psychosocial Approach.
The Magic of Madison Square Garden
There is truly nothing like it. The architectural symmetry, the multiple massive video screens, the precise location of every seat for “the perfect view”, the non-stop entertainment on and off the floor…makes every visit to “The World’s Most Famous Arena” unforgettable. That’s why tourists pay $23/person to tour this building…by the hundreds!
After a season, I feel I have my own special connection to this building, something that is mine. This includes my ritual of doing “stadiums” up and down the top concourse stairs, ode to the training regimen I used to do when I was in MLB and training for Kilimanjaro in 2011, a period of time in my life where I believe I was at my fittest. It also includes my moments of meditation, sitting on actual seat where the the famed Zen Master sits, a few hours before the game, for about 15-20 mins. It allows me to clear my head, increased my minds awareness of the sounds, energy, and vibrations moving through the stands, and find stillness in the midst of mayhem.
Above are merely four of the year’s highlights. With so many memories and events on and off the court during the 6-month span, it’s quite difficult to talk about all of them. That being said, I enjoyed all of it — the ups, the downs, and everything in between. I don’t think I will ever forget the journey I’ve been through in this, my first year. I hope I am able to continue to share it with those who seek a little bit of inspiration in the fine print.