NBA legends coming to town  

MANILA, Philippines — NBA legends Yao Ming, Dirk Nowitzki, Luis Scola and Andrei Kirilenko are expected to attend the FIBA World Cup Draw Weekend Festival in April as the clock ticks closer to the opening of the 32-nation conclave where Manila, Okinawa and Jakarta will host two rounds of the group stage starting Aug. 23.

The FIBA Central Board meets on April 28 morning with a dinner to be held honoring the governing body’s officials and the delegates of the 32 federations represented in the World Cup that night. There are plans to do a dance party on the streets of Global City and stage an event where the Molten FIBA World Cup 2023 basketball is unveiled. The actual draw will be presided by FIBA sport and competitions director Predrag Bogosavljev at the Smart Araneta Coliseum starting 7 p.m. on April 29. Scola, who played in 41 games over five World Cups, is this edition’s Global Ambassador and will grace the draw. He played in 10 NBA seasons and was on the Argentine teams that took the gold at the 2004 Olympics and silvers at the 2002 and 2019 World Cups.

The members of the Central Board are president Hamane Niang of Mali; secretary-general Andreas Zagklis of Greece; treasurer Ingo Weiss of Germany; members Celestine Adjanohoun of Benin, Marcelo Bedoya of Paraguay, Karo Lelai of Papua New Guinea, Yuko Mitsuya of Japan, Michele O’Keefe of Canada, Jean Michael Ramaroson of Madagascar, David Reid of Australia, Usie Richards of the Virgin Islands, Jean Pierre Siutat of France, Erick Thohir of Indonesia, Carmen Tocala of Romania, Antti Zitting of Finland and Asterios Zois of Greece; co-opted members Manny Pangilinan of the Philippines, Richard Carrion of Puerto Rico, Jorge Garbajosa of Spain, Kirilenko of Russia and Yao of China; ex-officio members Saud Ali Al-Thani of Qatar, Carol Callan of the US, Turgay Demirel of Turkey, Anibal Manave of Mozambique and Burton Shipley of New Zealand; NBA representative Mark Tatum of the US and players representative Nowitzki of Germany. Garbajosa played in two NBA seasons with the Toronto Raptors and was on the Spanish squads that claimed the gold at the 2006 World Cup and silver in the 2008 Olympics.

The day after the draw, representatives of the 16 countries playing in the first two rounds in Manila will convene for a working session with FIBA and Local Organizing Committee officials. They will also be given a tour of the competition and practice facilities. The representatives of the eight teams playing in Jakarta and eight teams in Okinawa will be scheduled for on-site visits in May. World Cup Joint Management Committee director John Lucas said the draw is a bigger event than the World Cup opening ceremonies. Lucas is heading efforts to make it a spectacular engagement with fans.