The Nike "My game" documentary post screening thoughts

Last night, Nike launched their 60 minute documentary called "My Game" at the Powerplant mall in rockwell. Nike collaborated with Cannes award winning director-producer tandem of Carlo Ledesma and Mel Lozano, to come up with an inspiring documentary about the lives of six of our basketball heroes today.

The show started at around 8pm, Boom Gonzales was the host of the show btw, kicking off the evening by introducing the director, producer and the players who were involved in the said event.

Poof, the video starts and they show video clips of Quinito Henson, Coach Norman Black, Coach Chot Reyes and Coach Franz Pumaren being interviewed. They talked about the basketball situation here in the country, and how the filipinos are hooked with the sport. I love the way Coach Franz described basketball here in the Philippines, he said;

Here in the Philippines, there are only three things you can talk about, alam mo, yung pwedeng pagusapan magmula sa higher class hanggang sa masa, 1) Showbiz, 2) Politics and 3)Basketball

First player-docu is shown, Renren's story is shown first. Renren talks about how he wasn't intimidated with taller players, how small he was when he was a kid, how really wanted to play for La Salle and how his jersey was retired in DLSU. He even throwed in some jokes while being interviewed.

Syempre masarap maglaro, tapos sa la salle ka pa, tapos lagi pa kayong champion.. apat na beses.. hahaha

Next up, James Carlos Yap. Quinito Henson puts him as a player with a high basketball IQ, I couldn't agree more. They showed pictures of James as a young kid, playing in Escalante, Negros Occidental. Who would've ever expected that that young skinny kid would become a PBA Superstar/MVP and be the husband of the daughter of a former president of the Philippines? His HS coach said James averaged 32 a game in his Highschool days, his uncle was the one responsible for James' basketball stardom in Negros. So all of you James Yap fanatics out there, you should thank his uncle.

Up next, Dondon Hontiveros. Interesting fact, Dondon wanted to be a priest when he was a young kid. He said, if he's not going to be a varsity player for his school then he'll definitely be a Priest. Dondon showed us his roots in Cebu, the old basketball court where he used to play and his old friends he used to play with.

Arwind Santos was featured next, the documentary showed Arwind's humble roots, started out playing in barangay courts in Pampanga, then played in the Mayor's Cup before he was eventually discovered. He pointed out the difference between playing outside and playing in the UAAP. It also showed how basketball brings hope to less fortunate people. Beautiful clip.

Next up, UAAP idols Rico Maierhoffer and Jobe Nkemakolam. Two players with contrasting beginnings, Rico started out playing in the half courts in Puerto Prinsesa while Jobe was discovered playing in the rural streets of Galicia, Manila. Jobe's documentary was heartwarming though, from starting out as a street thug to playing in Ateneo to being cut from the team and to returning to Ateneo to play again. Very beautiful clip, I think it's the best feature among six players.

Overall, I salute Nike. This will not only show the humble roots of our basketball heroes today but will also bring inspiration to kids who's dreaming of making it in the big league. Beautiful documentary, hats off to Director Carlos Ledesma, Mel Lozano and everyone who made this documentary possible. I do hope other people would get to see this, to show the significance of basketball here in the Philippines.