The Philippines’ basketball fever goes into overdrive, from graveyard courts to the sport’s World Cup

Children play basketball on the roof of tenement housing in Tondo, a district of Manila. The capital of the Philippines is one of the host cities for this year's FIBA Basketball World Cup.Photography by Eloisa Lopez/Reuters

It may be dwarfed by other nation’s sporting prowess, but the Philippines’ fervour for basketball is gigantic, and enthusiasm for the sport only intensified ahead of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, which opened in Manila last Friday and runs until Sept. 10.

Basketball is played everywhere and by almost everyone in the Philippines, which counts the sport as a national obsession along with boxing and beauty pageants. There is a basketball court of sorts set up near most churches, and whether it is in a cemetery or near a sewer, these places of worship are ubiquitous in this majority Catholic nation of 112 million people, which is co-hosting the FIBA world championships with Indonesia and Japan.

“We are excited since the tournament will happen here. There are many players from the NBA that we are excited to see,” college student James Froilan Almeda told Reuters near championship venue Mall of Asia Arena. The Philippines might not clinch the 32-nation championship but it can win some games, added Almeda. FIBA ranks the Philippines men’s team 40th globally and the women’s 42nd. Spain and the United States are in the top two spots.

Girls practice dribbling at a cemetery in Makati, one of the many cities that make up Metro Manila.

Basketball first came to the Philippines in the 1910s, when it was a U.S. colony. American teachers introduced the game to the public school system, initially just for girls.

The appeal of basketball endured through the decades because of its simplicity, veteran sports anchorman Sev Sarmenta said. “The love affair with basketball continues,” he told Reuters. “I will give you a backboard right here, I will find a piece of wire, it becomes our ring, I’ll attach it to the wall here and we can play. And it’s a scene repeated many times in many streets throughout the country.”

Basketball also cuts across all social classes in this developing nation, where nearly half the population consider themselves to be living in poverty, a recent survey by private pollster Social Weather Services showed.

Jessie Conde is one of the regulars at a community-built court in Tondo.

Jessie Conde, a regular at a court built by waste pickers in the slums of Tondo, said he always turns to basketball when things get tough at home or at school. His teammates, bare-chested and barefoot, typically bet 50 pesos ($1.20) each per game, with the winner often using the prize money to buy everyone refreshments.

“Once I’m on the court, I forget all my problems,” the 18-year-old said. At home, a statue of Jesus Christ wearing a Golden State Warriors jersey is prominently on display.

Even though the cheapest ticket for the World Cup costs almost half the minimum daily wage, organizers hope to smash the record attendance of 32,616 fans that watched the 1994 FIBA World Cup finals in Toronto.

Laurah Agmata, who plays for her school’s varsity and the local community league by the train tracks in Manila’s Pandacan neighbourhood, said she was looking forward to seeing Jordan Clarkson represent the Philippines in the championship. One day, she hopes she can also play for her country like the Filipino-American NBA player who is currently with Utah Jazz. “Sometimes I get discouraged because it’s often only boys who get opportunities in basketball,” the 15-year-old said. “But basketball is love.”

Laurah Agmat, 15, stands along the train tracks near her home in Pandacan, Manila. She says gender barriers in basketball sometimes discourage her, but she loves the sport: 'It's where I turn to when I have problems. I can make the outcome I want possible at basketball.'

Elsewhere in Pandacan, children watch a community league game. One drinks cold water from a plastic bag. Poverty is widespread in this country and, for many, tickets to the World Cup games will be unaffordable.

The NU Nazareth School team huddles before taking a break from training at the school's court in Manila. Filipinos first learned basketball in public schools in the 1910s, shortly after the United States conquered the islands from Spain.

Team banners hang at a local league game in Caloocan, Manila, where there are commentators to give a play-by-play of the action.

At the Baryo Aroma court in Tondo, a chicken perches on a ledge to watch the game. One of the regular players here is truck driver Carlo Hintula, 44, who has a tattoo of Kobe Bryant on his arm. ‘Kids here say I'm old and that I can no longer play,’ he said. ‘I just ignore them and play anyway. I focus on the game, sweat it out and feel good.’

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