Fil-Am NBA coach to promote NBA Fit program

Eric Spoelstra, the first and only Filipino-American NBA coach, would have none of the questions surrounding the biggest free-agent catch the Miami Heat recently pulled off. After all, he came over here not to advertise Lebron, D-Wade and Chris Bosh – the three basketball superstars who recently teamed up and formed one of the most formidable alliances ever in NBA history. Rather, the 39-year-old former University of Portland stalwart came back to do what he loves most: teach the basics of basketball. Dodging the hottest issue in the NBA off-season, Spoelstra talked about nothing but the first ever NBA Fit Week in the Philippines set August 6 to 15 in different Metro Manila venues and one in the province where the NBA’s current youngest coach traces his roots. “Please kindly defer asking questions that has nothing to do with the event," Edward Winkle, NBA Asia director for business development and marketing partnership, asked media men present during the formal launching of the event at the Marriot Hotel Friday. The trip was the second in a year for Spoelstra, son of former NBA executive Jon Spoelstra and San Pablo City’s Elsa Celino, who also visited the country in 2009 for a similar basketball program sponsored by the US Embassy under former Ambassador Kirstie Kenny. This time, the nine-day clinic comes as part of the NBA Cares umbrella, and will be the largest NBA Fit program ever conducted in Southeast Asia. Spoelstra said the event aims to educate individuals and families on the physical, mental and emotional benefits of living healthy. The clinic kicks off on Saturday at the SM North Edsa Annex until Sunday, then shifts to the Far Eastern University and La Salle campuses on Tuesday. The Araneta Coliseum will be the venue on Wednesday while Thursday’s activity will be held at the San Pablo Colleges in Laguna. Spoelstra winds up his 10-day trip to Manila with a two-day event at the SM Mall of Asia Saturday and Sunday next week.

For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV “We’re going to be very active this week," said Spoelstra, Miami’s former assistant and director of scouting who was elevated as head coach when the great Pat Riley, also the president of the Heat organization, stepped down in 2008. “We’re going to teach a healthy lifestyle. We’re going to teach basic fundamentals of basketball. We’re going to teach back what we have learned," added Spoelstra, who played for the University of Portland and was named West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year in 1989. Highlight of the Miami coach’s visit is the one-day NBA-style training camp he will be holding for the UAAP’s top 80 men and women players at the Big Dome on August 11. The selected players from the different UAAP schools will learn the latest NBA techniques and fitness training as they take part in various activities like advanced hydration sweat tests. And then there’s his stopover in San Pablo, Laguna, the home of his Filipina mother. “It’s (visit in San Pablo) something that’s being worked out for a long, long time. It’s going to be very emotional because some of my family still lives there," he said. Spoelstra, who guided the Heat to the playoffs in his first two seasons as coach, did touch on one subject that has nothing to do with basketball. Asked if he had the chance to meet boxing celebrity Floyd Mayweather Jr., in a recent basketball charity event in Miami, Spoelstra answered in the affirmative. “I almost threw him out there," he jokingly said of his first chance encounter with the unbeaten American boxer, also a basketball buff, while Mayweather was shooting at the Heat’s practice facilities. Spoelstra admitted being aware of the recent breakdown of negotiations for a possible November 13 mega-fight between Mayweather and Filipino champion Manny Pacquiao. “But I respect him as a person (Mayweather) especially some of the charity events he’s been doing out there in Miami," said the Heat coach. – JVP, GMANews.TV