Carlos Loyzaga is finally in the FIBA Hall of Fame, and this is a great source of pride for Filipino basketball fans. Loyzaga propelled the Philippines to a bronze-medal finish in what has been rebranded as the 1954 FIBA World Championships, and was named one of the best basketball players in the world. Loyzaga also won gold medals in the Asian Games in 1951, 1954, 1958 and 1962. Prior to that, the event was called the Far Eastern Games. King Caloy was also an NCAA champion thrice in the 1950’s, when the Red Lions were in a powerful rivalry with Ateneo de Manila’s Blue Eagles. Loyzaga was heralded as a true pioneer in Philippine basketball.
Think about what it took to compete overseas back then. First of all, there was not that much science in the game. You played with a sprained ankle; you didn’t rest it. The solution for many weaknesses was just to run some more. Nutrition was not a factor in sports performance yet, and recovery was unheard of. Commercial air travel only started in 1941, and its development was interrupted by World War II. Jet engine technology was only invented a few years later, so planes had propellers and flights took twice as long. Tickets were expensive, and seats were designed for normal-sized people, and passengers could smoke while in flight. Longer international flights required refueling stops, and thus would sometimes take two to three days. Imagine the extreme discomfort for the barrel-chested giant and his teammates.
The game itself was very different. The shot clock was just about to be instituted in the US, and thus, scores were naturally very low. There was no three-point shot, but variations of the running hook shot, the two-handed lay-up, and the set shot. And of course, shorts were, well, short, and often non-absorbent satin with belt buckles and hip pads for protection if you got undercut. America had had commercial leagues and barnstorming tournaments since the late 1920’s, and were thus ahead of the game, winning their first title in 1954. Europe was still catching up, forming its own pro leagues, while the Philippines relied on players from the collegiate competitions, mostly from what is now Metro Manila. The local game was then only 40 years removed from being considered a “soft” sport that only women should play, in skirts and heels, no less.
It will be more difficult for players of succeeding generations to join Loyzaga in the Hall of Fame, simply because the Philippines is a pioneer in professional basketball. Because the country was ahead of its time, its hoops might was divided between professionals and amateurs early. Thus, after the creation of the Philippine Basketball Association in 1975, the country was sending raw amateurs to international competition for the next 15 years. Meanwhile, countries like China were discovering Western basketball and opening their doors to international influences. In the mid-1980’s, new NBA commissioner David Stern gave the government broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) the rights to broadcast NBA games for free. The Atlanta Hawks visited the Middle Kingdom, and that became a starting point for the slumbering giant’s rise as a basketball powerhouse in the region, and a bottomless market that any business venture like the NBA would salivate to have. This explains the quick ascent of Yao Ming to this year’s FIBA Hall of Fame class alongside Loyzaga. Yao was the top overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft. The 7’6” center’s arrival also provided the impetus for a three-year plan that resulted in the first NBA China Games in 2004.
FIBA should also consider inducting a handful of other Philippine basketball trailblazers into its Hall of Fame. This writer would recommend Coach Chito Calvo and the members of The Islanders, as our 1936 Olympic basketball squad was called. They spent a month at sea and by rail to get from Manila to France to Germany for the first-ever Olympic competition. And they were cheated – twice – in the actual tournament. Led by Ambrosio Padilla and Jack Ciria Cruz, they only suffered one loss, but were relegated to the consolation bracket by a midstream change in the tournament format. Despite that, their fifth-place finish is by far the record for any Asian basketball team in Olympic competition to this day. Calvo and Padilla helped lay down the foundation for what is now FIBA Asia and the Philippine Olympic Committee. Their contributions to the game should be recognized at the highest level and preserved for posterity.