More than a week ago, I found some grainy footage of real-time hoopage from the NBA players exhibition outing in Manila, Philippines. Despite the glut of already established NBA stars on the American team's roster, one Derrick Williams, formerly of the University of Arizona, found himself playing ball in the friendly exhibition against Filipinos thanks to one local tycoon, wrote Grantland.com.
Well, I've seemed to one-up myself, this time finding a highlight package of pretty good quality. Note Williams early in the highlight package, then again around the 4:35 mark, catching an alley-oop from Chris Paul, and again at the 5:15 mark, where he cherry picks for an impressive windmill.
Aside from Williams, it was a very intricate affair to tempt some of the biggest NBA names to head to Asia. Per Grantland:
When the option of bringing over NBA players came up, (Chot) Reyes, head coach of a PBA team, said he was skeptical. "Kobe, Dwight Howard — all these guys have been to the Philippines," Reyes said. "They come in, wave to the crowd for 30 minutes, do a 15-minute clinic, wave goodbye. Then they'll go to some Nike store, then go to some orphanage. There's no impact." The way to do it, Reyes argued, was to bring a team of young players — "not divas" — who would actually play and put on a show in Manila.
It turned out better than that. The list of players looked like this: Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Tyreke Evans, James Harden, JaVale McGee, Derek Fisher, and finally, Williams. After the former Wildcat, the next youngest player is Harden, who should be entering his third year into the league.
Anyway, it's just an interesting tidbit that Williams not only made the trip, but looked like he fit in just fine running and shooting threes with his teammates, most of whom are perennial All-Stars.