Horace Grant to visit Manila

This appears in the Monday, June 6, 2011 edition of the Business Mirror.

Horace Grant to visit Manila

by rick olivares

Former Chicago Bull Horace Grant who won three championships with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen and one with the Los Angeles Lakers with Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, will be in Manila this July 1, 2011 for the new NBA 3-on-3 Philippines.

The announcement was made by Ed Winkle, NBA Asia’s Senior Director for Basketball Development at the National Sports Grill in Greenbelt 3, Makati City.

The NBA 3-on-3 Philippines 2011 will be held at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall from July 1-3 and is open to all boys and girls from ages 11-19 with an open division for men. Registration begins today and is on a first come first serve basis and runs until June 28. Information about the competition can be found on www.nba3on3.com/Philippines.

Grant, who entered the NBA out of Clemson University as the 10^th overall pick of the 1987 Draft by Chicago, will grace the tournament and make guest appearances and interact with fans through clinics and community events.

“I’m really looking forward to my trip to the Philippines,” said Grant through a statement by NBA Asia. “I heard that it’s a nation that loves basketball.”

Grant played seven years in Chicago (1987-94) before transferring to the Orlando Magic where he joined a young Shaquille O’Neal to make the 1995 NBA Finals were they were swept by the Houston Rockets. On the road to the finals, Grant played a major role in beating the Bulls in the 1995 Eastern semifinals after Michael Jordan returned from his baseball fling.

He later reunited with Chicago coach Phil Jackson in Los Angeles for the 2000-01 and 2003-04 seasons. He was voted as an NBA All-Star in 1994 when he, Pippen, BJ Armstrong who was a recent Manila visitor, Bill Catwright, and Pete Myers, who replaced Jordan in the starting five, led to the Bulls to a 55-27 record, two fewer losses when they had Jordan in the lineup when they won their third NBA title the previous season. He also earned All-Defensive Second Team honors during the 1992-93, 1993-94, 1994-95, and 1995-96 seasons.

Grant is currently teaching basketball to kids in Arroyo Grande, a small coastal town in the San Obispo County of California and occasionally travels the world as an ambassador for the NBA.