MANILA – A warehouse along Sheridan Street in Mandaluyong City is now a basketball temple called The House of Rise, where previously undiscovered Filipino basketball talents are now hard at training to make their hoop dreams come alive.
The namesake of the court is Nike Rise, a first-of-its-kind campaign for the global sports brand to train and document the progress of young ballers in a bid to inspire the next wave of basketball fans.
The program was first introduced in China last August 2014 with much fanfare, headlined by NBA stars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James who trained 30 hopefuls to pick three standout players to represent China at the World Streetball Championships.
The Philippines is the second country where Nike Rise was launched, now training 24 street ballers under the watch of former Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes and Talk ‘N Text team manager Jimmy Alapag.
The participants have been living and training together since July, with TV5, where Reyes is head of TV5Sports and TV5 Sports Digital, chronicling their six-week long journey into a reality program.
Episodes of Rise are available on TV5 every Sunday, supported by behind-the-scenes content from Nike.com. Out of the 24, a final 12 will be chosen to create the Nike Rise Team.
It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the players, mostly in their teens. They get to try out the latest Nike products in addition to top-notch training and meeting their idols, like Indiana Pacers All-Star Paul George who visited Manila last month to announce the lucky 24 finalists.
One thing they will miss though is the chance to train in the House of Mamba, arguably the inspiration behind the House of Rise, built for the Nike Rise program in China.
Created by ad agency AKQA, Rhizomatiks and WiSpark, House of Mamba is the world’s first full-sized reactive LED basketball court, fitted with motion sensors that allow the players to follow drills and exercises lit up on the floor. This project won 3 Gold Lions at Cannes this year for Promo & Activation, Branded Content & Entertainment and Cyber.
