MANILA, Philippines, June 21 ------ Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy, a 3-time NBA champion who’s responsible for helping train some of the best basketball players in the world, is currently in Manila as part of his “Phil Handy Tour” where he’ll run basketball clinics in the metro to help develop ballers on the rise.
Handy’s Manila stop has been a long time coming, he shared during a media session in Bonifacio Global City. “I grew up in Oakland with my parents. We moved out to a city called Graham City in California and there was a large Filipino community there. So when I was 12, I was invited to the Filipino community and kind of grew up with a lot of Filipinos where I learned about the culture, so this has been a long time coming,” Handy said about his decision to come here first. “I know the PBA is a very good league,” he added. “It’s got a great reputation where a lot of guys come here to play for many years and just the culture of basketball here is very strong. I’ve always heard that the love for the game of basketball is at a high level so it’s an absolute pleasure for me to be here and learn.”
Handy is in Manila until June 27 then will fly to Singapore where he was invited to help train the country’s national team. The 51-year-old Handy will have sessions with local basketball teams La Salle, University of the Philippines, and Converge.
As being part of the coaching staffs that won NBA titles with Cleveland in 2016, Toronto in 2019, and Los Angeles in 2020, Handy has worked with notable names that people around the globe are familiar with in LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, and Anthony Davis, just to note a few. He also worked with Kobe Bryant when he was with the Lakers under Mike Brown in the early 2010s. Handy also played a hand in the development of recent Lakers on the rise, such as Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves, both of whom stepped up in their 2023 NBA Playoff run. Following recent rumors that he would leave LA to join former head coach Frank Vogel’s new staff in Phoenix, Handy clarified he has two seasons remaining under Darvin Ham in Los Angeles he plans to see to the end.
The assistant coach who many believe will be an NBA head coach one day will help local players hone their skills but also instill the belief that they can succeed in the global stage despite the height Filipinos face. “Listen man, every Filipino I’ve known on the basketball court, they have a lot of heart,” Handy announced. “That’s one thing that’s embedded in their culture. So size doesn’t really matter. Filipinos have always had skill, speed and again, just fearlessness. So, that part for me, size is just a physical thing. There are other parts like how you approach the game, what’s inside the ticker, every Filipino has that inside of them and I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon.”
No rush for Kai Sotto’s NBA jump
One Filipino standout many in the country closely follow is Kai Sotto. Handy shared that he finds the NBA hopeful “very talented.” “I never like putting a timeline on athletes. Their development and growth come at a time when it’s supposed to be. I got the chance to see him play for a couple of years and he’s naturally really gifted,” he elaborated. “He has a lot of mobility and I know he spent some time down in Australia and that’s a great place to develop his game. The Australian league is really strong and is very respected. It could be this summer, it could be next year. It really just depends on the opportunity. Sometimes, a player’s opportunity comes at different times so my biggest advice for Kai is to keep working, keep playing and keep being ready for the opportunity when it presents itself.”
Handy mentioned that the training dynamics he will utilize in the coming days will be similar to how he trains NBA players. He respects pupils who are willing to accept being coached while also being accountable for their development on a consistent basis. “I always tell the players all the time, ‘Your ceiling and where you want to go is really in your hands.’”
That kind of accountability and determination would be essential if a Filipino-born player makes the NBA someday, which Handy sees as inevitable. “It’s just a matter of time. I think that part of the game, the evolution of it. Again, we talk about the Filipino culture in basketball, it’s just a matter of time. So you can expect that in the coming years. The culture here and the way the game has changed over the years. Athletes are growing and studying the game, it’ll just be a matter of time.”
Source: rappler.com
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