The Filipino Basketball Culture

Canadians and Filipino-Canadians are definitely not over the fact that the Toronto Raptors won the NBA Championship last June. And now that regular season is around the corner, basketball enthusiasts are getting ahead of the game. People are preparing their bets and teams are already warming up.

We all witnessed the excitement of Filipino-Canadians celebrating and cheering for the Raptors last season. And with that, we can say basketball is a sport that really helps to bring the Filipino community together. If you go visit the Philippines, you will see Filipinos playing in their own barangays day or night!

Filipino TV has also been supportive in catering basketball programming for its Filipino-Canadian viewers. In a recent trip to Chicago last month, the team covered the FBA NA, an annual basketball league held by Filipinos across North America. There’s also Pinoy Bounce, where the hosts review performances by different basketball teams and interview guests that have relevant background when it comes to basketball.

Though a typical Filipino is not over 6-foot tall nor has a toned and conditioned body like Kobe or Lebron, a lot of them love basketball and they are actually pretty good at it, like Pjay.

Maybe it isn’t really important if Filipinos are too short, or don’t have the perfect built to play. Sometimes that weakness becomes their strength when they’re inside the court.