BASKETBALL : KOBE BRYANT THANKS FILIPINOS AFTER HIS VISIT HERE IN THE PHILIPPINES

Nike Philippines posted in its official YouTube channel the thank you video of Kobe Bryant after the cager's 2 day visit here in the Philippines :

This was his first visit to the country after his retirement from basketball. Kobe is definitely very appreciative of how the Filipinos has welcomed him every time he visits here.

Mamba out.

BASKETBALL : KOBE BRYANT WILL BE BACK IN MANILA

Basketball great Kobe Bryant will be back in Manila next week. As posted in the Nike Basketball official Facebook page, the former Los Angeles Lakers guard will be here on June 24 - 25 :

This will be his first visit to the Philippines after his retirement from professional basketball. On his second day here, he will hold the Kobe Academy at the Araneta Coliseum where lucky guests will be trained and coached by Kobe himself.

If you are interested to apply, you can apply in the Nike website - click here.

GILAS PILIPINAS : NIKE LAUNCHES NEW KITS FOR THE FIBA OQT

Sportswear global giant Nike launched the new kits that will be used by our very own Gilas Pilipinas national basketball team in the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament here in Manila on July.

In an event in the newly opened Shangri-La Hotel in Bonifacio Global City, the launch started with a brief chat with Fil-Am NBA player Jordan Clarkson. Unfortunately, he will not be joining the squad in the OQT since FIBA has not yet given him the go signal due to his eligibility.

Most of the players in the current pool was there during the launch - LA Tenorio, Mo Tautua, Ranidel de Ocampo, Ray Ray Parks, Marc Pingris, June Mar Fajardo, Terrence Romeo and naturalized center Andray Blatche, who just arrived in Manila early Saturday morning after 2 weeks of personal leave due to the surgery of his mother.

The new kits were paraded by 5 other players in the Gilas 4.0 pool - Jeff Chan, Jayson Castro, Gabe Norwood, Calvin Abueva and Japeth Aguilar. You can see them in the photo below from the Sports5 Twitter :

LOOK | New Gilas Pilipinas uniform unveiled https://t.co/I5253qiLAb pic.twitter.com/XunfKhacSw

— Sports5 (@Sports5PH) May 28, 2016

Here is the video of the launch from Sports5 Facebook page :