MANILA, Philippines – Kobe Paras managed to impress not only basketball fans but the PBA stars and legends during Nike’s Rise Legacy Night on Saturday, August 15.
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)-commit was one of the players who made up Team Destiny.
Along with Jeron Teng, Thirdy Ravena, Mark Barroca, Jared Dillinger, Jeff Chan, Nico Salva, RR Garcia and Greg Slaughter, he faced off with Team Legacy, which is made up of his dad, Benjie Paras, Alvin Patrimonio, Alvin Teng, Bong Ravena, James Yap, Ren Ren Ritualo, Allan Caidic, Willie Miller, Olsen Racela, Mike Cortez, Mark Cardona and LA Tenorio.
Spin.ph reported that the PBA legends who shared the court with Kobe were greatly impressed by his athleticism and workman-like attitude in the game.
Purefoods Star Hotshots team manager and four-time PBA MVP Alvin Patrimonio said Kobe has improved greatly since the last time he saw him while playing for La Salle Greenhills.
Allan Caidic, who is believed by many to be the greatest shooter Philippines has ever produced, said Kobe’s stint with Cathedral High School in Los Angeles definitely helped him improve his game.
Olsen Racela echoed the same sentiments and said that playing in the US against bigger and tougher player had been significant to Kobe’s growth as a basketball player.
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel point guard LA Tenorio said Kobe is the future and praised the younger player’s versatility and athleticism.
Rain or Shine’s Gabe Norwood is excited for Kobe and hopes the latter makes the most of his opportunity in college once he joins UCLA Bruins.
They are all in agreement that the basketball prodigy has a very bright future ahead of him and hope that he goes all the way and become an NBA player.
On the other hand, Kobe’s father, Benjie Paras said those projections are not on their mind right now and they just want Kobe to focus in his last year in high school and they’ll see what happens in college.