Fantasy league

In her first Young STAR column, stylist Sam Potentiano explores the world of basketball with casual athletic gear that’ll score three points in any court.

It’s hard out there if you aren’t into basketball.

Not only do I have a primordial lack of interest in sports, but I also moved away for college, meaning I missed out on that storied, local milestone: the fervent, bordering on religious experience known as the UAAP.

Which would all have been well and good if not for the fact that if you’re living in the Philippines, the sport is 100 percent unavoidable. At any given time of the year, though certainly more pronounced since the NBA draft and the UAAP season both kicked off in the last two months, it seems like basketball rules everything around me. From my Twitter feed to local magazine covers to every other word out of my boyfriend’s mouth—I’d have to make a concerted effort not to soak up a little bit of basketball through social osmosis.

So, why fight it? In the end, the best course of action seems to be: manage expectations when a game is on (hard fact: you will get seenzoned), find amusement in Iggy Azalea dating a Laker named Swaggy P, and do it all while adopting that louche, couldn’t-care-less swagger baller dudes wear so well.

Flyknits optional.

Photos by RALPH MENDOZA

Styled by SAM POTENCIANO

Makeup by SARI CAMPOS

Modeled by SAMANTHA GOMEZ (CALCARRIE’S)