Payton overwhelmed by the support from Filipino fans during his third PH visit
One-time NBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist enjoyed talking with Filipino fans in his third visit in the country.
Gary Payton arrived in Manila on Tuesday (November 22) to open a new NBA Store in Cebu City. The NBA legend had a lengthy talk with the Filipino media at the flagship NBA Store at Glorietta 3 in Makati during the meet-and-greet in the evening.
Image grabbed from this website news.abs-cbn.com
Fans and basketball enthusiasts didn’t miss the chance to see and talk with the NBA legend, who was then very overwhelmed by the warm welcome he received from the Filipinos. Payton also expressed his admiration for how much Filipinos love basketball.
“When the NBA asks me to come to the Philippines, I always jump on it,” he said Tuesday.
“This country is more basketball-oriented to me. This country takes basketball very, very seriously,”
“This city is, to me, a good city because of basketball because they love basketball so much, and they understand basketball.”
Payton greatly appreciates how Filipinos not only love the sports, but are also very knowledgeable about it.
“A lot of people in the Philippines like the Magic Johnsons, the Larry Birds,” he observed. “They recognize Dr. J Julius Erving. They recognize these guys, and that’s what I like.”
The fourth NBA Store in the Philippines officially opened on Thursday, November 24 at Ayala Center.
Source:inquirer.net, abs-cbnnews.com
