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Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, it's Cassidy Hubbert from ESPN. In my work,

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Speaker 1: I spent a lot of time at NBA arenas, and

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Speaker 1: one of the things I've noticed traveling around the country

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Speaker 1: and covering the league is that just about anywhere I go,

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Speaker 1: I bump into fellow Filipino Americans and they're all basketball fans,

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Speaker 1: and they all follow their NBA teams like their lives

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Speaker 1: depend on it, and they all called me over to

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Speaker 1: take about seven thousand selfies together. I grew up around Chicago,

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Speaker 1: but my mother is from the Philippines, and seeing so

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Speaker 1: many other phil Ams share my passion for basketball got

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Speaker 1: me thinking maybe there's a story behind Filipino's love of

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Speaker 1: the game. You know, there's religion, there's politics, and there's basketball,

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Speaker 1: and those are the three things you talk about in

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Speaker 1: the Philippines. So yeah, I didn't even know the half

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Speaker 1: of it, but I do know somebody who does basketball.

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Speaker 1: Were in Archionellas standing holde the Sonica, my boy Nico

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Speaker 1: Ramos from Titan, one of the world's most passionate basketball brands,

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Speaker 1: and the guy who helps Lebron and Katie launched their

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Speaker 1: new kicks. Whenever those NBA legends fly to Manila. Hey, Cassidy,

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Speaker 1: I heard you're looking for a Kuya, you know, a

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Speaker 1: big brother type to guy you down the rabbit hole

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Speaker 1: of basketball in the Philippines. Together, we have a new

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Speaker 1: podcast we can't wait to share with you, Hoops Paradise,

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Speaker 1: the Philippines love of the game and no joke, the

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Speaker 1: rabbit hole goes deeper than you'd ever imagine. It's a

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Speaker 1: love affair with the NBA. It's not just simple fundom.

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Speaker 1: The general population in the Philippines consider themselves and be

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Speaker 1: a fans. That's the largest percentage AMAL in all countries. Impressive,

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Speaker 1: but even those numbers don't tell the whole story. When

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Speaker 1: it comes to our passion for the NBA and basketball

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Speaker 1: in general, you've got to feel it to understand it.

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Speaker 1: We're talking about fans who'd give up whole days to

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Speaker 1: see their idols, pregame routines that'd be the probably three

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Speaker 1: hours before the tip off. There's ten thousand people there

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Speaker 1: for our warm up school children who were so excited

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Speaker 1: to see Eric Spoelstra and the Miami Heat coaching staff

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Speaker 1: that the kids nearly lost their minds. They got to

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Speaker 1: the point where Biz and my other sistant Chad Camra.

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Speaker 1: We're signing kids foreheads. They didn't even have pieces of paper,

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Speaker 1: there's nothing to sign. And the story of how being

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Speaker 1: a basketball player just about saved the life of Clay

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Speaker 1: Thompson's uncle Andy Once upon a time, my heart drops,

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Speaker 1: I think I'm gonna get kidnapped, and health ransom. It's

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Speaker 1: a basketball love affair like no other, and we want

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Speaker 1: you to explore it with us. Listen to Hoops Paradise,

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Speaker 1: the Philippines Love of the Game, starting February one on

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Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

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Speaker 1: get your podcasts. Cross the Ball, Cross the Ball,