Rice celebrates Pinoy heritage in NBA

MANILA, Philippines - NBA legend Glen Rice is in town to celebrate Filipino Heritage Week in the pro league and will attend the live viewing party with Golden State facing Milwaukee at the Global Ampitheater, BGC, this morning. Rice was at the viewing party for Miami against New Orleans at Italianni’s BGC last Thursday and also came for the showing of the Heat against Minnesota at the Ampitheater yesterday.

Miami players wore the red Filipino Heritage T-shirts, executed by Titan, during the warm-ups for the New Orleans contest which the Heat won, 120-112. For the Warriors game, Martin Nievera will sing the National Anthem while the LIKHA Pilipino Folk Ensemble will perform at halftime.

Rice, 49, said it’s an honor to be in the Philippines for Filipino Heritage Week. “This is a huge opportunity to be familiar with Filipino culture,” he said. “Basketball is like no other in the Philippines. The first time I was here seven years ago, I was told high school games bring in 2,000 to 3,000 fans. That’s unheard of. It shows the Filipinos’ love and passion for the game. That’s something I would’ve loved to be involved in as a high school player. The support is amazing and it fuels the motivation to hope to someday become an NBA player and it feels like it’s right in your grasp.”

Rice, who played on the Los Angeles Lakers team that won the NBA title in 2000, said the way the game is today, there are more opportunities for undersized players to make it. When he was with Charlotte, two of Rice’s teammates were 5-3 Muggsy Bogues and 5-10 Michael Adams. “Smaller guys are doing so much better now than in previous years because of their speed, ability to shoot the basketball, ability to pass,” he said. “As for Filipinos making it to the NBA, they should continue to be hopeful. All they need is to keep working hard, never take a day off. When you get to the NBA, maybe, you can take a few days off. But before then, never take a day off.”

Known for his three-point shot, Rice said he put in a lot of hours and hard work to develop his stroke. In high school, Rice related how he would dim the lights to the lowest level in the gym and shoot baskets even as he could hardly see the rim. “There was no three-point line then,” he said. “I was just a guy who could shoot from far out. People thought it was impossible but I used to practice shooting when it was dark. I let my body mechanics take over. The most important thing was to get my body lined up, it wasn’t about making or missing, so that no matter where you shoot from, it’s almost picture perfect.”

Rice played under several NBA coaches like Ron Rothstein, Pat Riley, Jeff Van Gundy, Dave Cowens, Kurt Rambis, Phil Jackson, Rudy Tomjanovich and Mike Dunleavy. He singled out Rothstein and Riley as the coaches who made the most impact on his career. “Rothstein was my first coach in the NBA and taught me the type of attitude I had to have to be an NBA player,” he said. “Then, for about two months, I played for Riley who kicked my butt in training camp and taught me how to work hard. Because of what I learned from Riley, I was able to carry it over from Miami to Charlotte and I just took off. I owe a lot to those two coaches.”

Two stars whom Rice played with were Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. “It was a lot of fun playing with those guys,” he said. “They’re two of the most competitive guys you’ll ever meet. Sure, there was some immaturity in their ways but it was all for good. Both wanted to win so badly, both had the mindset of being a leader. There were bound to be clashes but they understood what had to be done to accomplish what we did.”

Early in his NBA career, Rice was on the Miami team that was swept in the playoffs by the Chicago Bulls and remembered it was like a nightmare going up against Michael Jordan. “It was our fourth year as a franchise and we were thrilled to be in the  playoffs,” he said. “We took the challenge of facing the Bulls. We weren’t going to roll over and not play. We were competitive. It was a great experience for a franchise to go to the playoffs for the first time and we went away with no negative feelings. Thank God, I was matched up against Michael only now and then.”

Rice said he played alongside two Asian stars, Yao Ming at Houston and Wang Zhizhi with the Los Angeles Clippers. “They were new players from different countries making a huge impact,” he said. “You take those guys and it could be the same as here. Once you get an opportunity to put a foot in the door, you understand why you’re there, knowing what you did to get there. It was special because just like here, it was the beginning of something brand new.”