Manny Pacquiao, a legendary 8-division boxing champion, pursued his long-held basketball dream despite doubts, building a grassroots league now partnering with East Asia Super League.
At age 36, having already won world championship titles in eight weight classes, Pacquiao did not rest on his laurels; instead, he turned his attention to basketball and even took to the court himself, prompting boos from the crowd that were so loud they nearly brought the arena roof down.
Pacquiao, who grew
up in the slums, had dreamed of playing in the NBA since he was a teenager,However, standing only 1.66 meters tall, he couldn’t even meet the minimum height requirement to sign up for professional team tryouts. With no other options left, he turned to professional boxing, where he fought his way to a world championship through one grueling bout after another. Once he had established a solid financial foundation, he never set aside the basketball dream he had held onto for most of his life.
In 2014, despite skepticism from the entire country, Pacquiao officially announced his joining of the local professional basketball league. In his debut game, he was nearly knocked off his feet by an opponent’s feint; footage of the incident was repeatedly edited and shared, turning him into a laughingstock in the public eye. At the time, almost no one believed he could make a name for himself in basketball.
In 2017, Pacquiao made an even more surprising decision: he used his own money to launch a basketball league specifically designed to provide a platform for grassroots players—those without connections, limited in height, and unable to enter the mainstream competition system—At the time, no one in the Philippines believed that a layman with a background in professional boxing could keep the league running for three full years.
In the league’s first year, they barely managed to field ten teams, and the players’ meager salaries weren’t even enough to cover their commuting expenses. Pacquiao would often squat on the sidelines and eat boxed meals alongside the players, and whenever there was a shortfall in venue expenses, he’d dip into his own pocket to cover it—and he’s kept this up for nine years.
On August 18 of
this year, the East Asia Super League officially announced a partnership with the grassroots league founded by Pacquiao. What was
once a grassroots tournament that no one believed in has now produced a defending champion who has earned the right to represent the Philippines in Asian-level competitions.The number of participating teams has expanded from the initial ten to twenty-six; the league has gone from an unrecognized grassroots tournament to an officially certified competition; and despite initially being dismissed by everyone as a crazy endeavor, it has truly sent grassroots players to the Asian stage.He rarely makes bold claims in his life; he has simply carried over the same unyielding tenacity he displayed as a boxer onto the basketball court.
In life, everyone has a dream they’ve kept hidden in their hearts for many years.When we were young, we lacked the means, and others didn’t believe in us, so we gritted our teeth and set those dreams aside for the time being. But when we look back in our forties or fifties, we often regret that we didn’t persevere a little longer back then. If you still hold such a passion in your heart, you should go ahead and pursue it as soon as possible—so you won’t be left with regrets later on.
