NBA exec says Filipinos inspire them

MANILA, Philippines — NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said the other day millions of Filipino fans, who are passionate about the game, inspire the league to innovate, grow and get better because of their insatiable appetite for all things basketball.

Tatum, 48, arrived in Manila from New York last Monday morning to confer with NBA Philippines associate vice president and managing director Carlo Singson and his staff, local business partners and media in his first visit to the country known for its love of basketball. He flew in with NBA vice president of global business operations Diane Gotua, a Filipina based in the league head office in New York. From Manila, Tatum went to Singapore last night and will visit Vietnam, where he was born, before heading back to the US to attend the NBA draft lottery in Chicago on Tuesday.

“The Philippines provides an incredible role (in promoting the growth of basketball),” said Tatum. “When you have passionate fans, where you have 99 percent awareness of the NBA, it’s the highest awareness market for the NBA in the world, you get better because the fans demand the best and it forces you to start thinking about how you deliver your product. It pushes us to be better. On our global page, the Philippines is the No. 1 market in Facebook and you look at even our regional Facebook sites, no other site has as many Filipino followers and likes as we do, three million in the Philippines, so it’s making sure we deliver the content to them however they are consuming it, a lot now on their mobile devices and it keeps us on our toes and wanting to do better.”

Tatum, who went to Cornell and Harvard, said the Filipino community in the US is another driving force.  “Our teams recognize that because many of them have the same data that show where their fans come from and they know they’re coming from the Philippines,” said Tatum in noting that more and more NBA venues are celebrating Filipino Heritage Night in games during the season. “They start looking at their local demographics and see there are Filipino fans all over. We do the Heritage Night and the fans come out and support. It’s a celebration of the Filipino culture and so those fans are true supporters not only locally but wherever they are in the world. I’ve been to many places in the Middle East where there’s a huge Filipino population and they’re following the NBA and getting others to follow because of their passion for the game.”

Tatum, a member of the FIBA Central Board like SBP chairman emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan, said he’s aware of Cleveland guard Jordan Clarkson’s roots. “Jordan is an incredible athlete, an incredible NBA player and an incredible story of being Filipino-American and now watching him play for the Cavs,” he said. “He’s super talented and I think the Philippine national team has been performing well in Asia but they can certainly use a player like Jordan.”

Tatum said the new FIBA qualifying system for the World Cup is a positive development in growing the international game. “Most countries in the world, prior to this system, never had the opportunity to see their national teams play on their own home turf,” he said. “They play exhibition games or warm-up games but not any games of real significance on their homecourt. The new qualification system allows fans to see their national team play in meaningful games at home, in their country. Even though some NBA players are not available because of conflicts in schedule, what it allows and forces national teams to do is to continue to develop more quality players. We’re seeing that those teams who have invested in developing more quality players are the teams that are doing well in the new qualification system and that now there’s a more level even playing field because it really is up to those national teams to develop a deep roster of talent to compete in the qualifiers.”

Tatum said NBA players will be made available to the US team during the offseason. “There will be windows where NBA players could compete but the selection is up to USA Basketball,” he said. “I know that in the third qualifying window, the US will be playing in Cuba in July and that team will be made up of G-League players.”