Basketball in the Philippines
Written on Apr 4, 2026
I don't have to view this page to know the most popular sport in the Philippines is basketball. It's so popular, in fact, that it's annoying to some people (like me) who aren't into it.
I can't play any kind of sport these days because of age and injuries, but even if I could, I wouldn't play basketball. It's not a contact sport, like American football, but every time I played it (when I was much, much younger), I got hurt.
Basketball Near Me
I will never understand why my wife, Josie, is such a big basketball fan. The last time she played, she was in high school. Our older son started playing when he was young and still plays on occasion, if he can. Even he's getting too old for it.
Josie wanted to watch the Chicago Bulls (and Michael Jordan) so badly in the 1990s, I ended up putting in a huge satellite dish at our house in Arizona, just so she wouldn't miss a game. I removed the dish when I sold the house.
There are regular courts in Olongapo City, and then there are street courts. The street courts are half-courts. When we visited Josie's family in the Kalaklan barangay in 1986, all of her brothers played basketball on a full-court nearby.
The city paved the street we live on in 2006, which was in progress when we moved here. Two street courts appeared near the opposite ends of the street shortly after it was completed. People aren't playing at those courts all the time, but I frequently hear at least one ball bouncing.
Professional Teams in the Philippines
Unlike professional basketball teams in the United States, professional basketball teams in the Philippines take the names of their sponsors. Like San Miguel or Converge.
It makes me wonder what happens when the sponsor drops the team. Does the team disband, or does it get sponsored by some other company and change its name?
It's called the PBA (sort of like the NBA in the United States), which is 12 company-branded franchise teams. My relatives will watch them on television when they're playing. It's more important to them than the latest blockbuster movie.
No Life Without Basketball
Or so it seems. Filipinos seem to eat, drink, and breathe basketball, excluding all other forms of entertainment. They play it in the rain and at night, when others are sleeping or supposed to be sleeping.
I can hear the ball bouncing at the closest court. I don't like hearing it bounce when I'm trying to sleep after 10 pm. After many years of living here, I still find it annoying. Sometimes, it's the only thing keeping me from falling asleep.
I can't watch it on TV for long. It's not basketball itself; it's all the advertising that goes with it. It's the same reason I can't watch the romantic dramas with Josie.
American television stations air 20 minutes of commercials per hour. In the Philippines, it seems like 40 minutes per hour. I'm not kidding. I timed one commercial break at 10 minutes.
Image by Darek Beach from Pixabay