James Harden kicks off Manila tour with community event at UP

FILE: “We have more in store for The Beard. Let’s make his stay the best one ever, Manila.” (Photo: @adidasph/Instagram)

Amidst a controversial discussion between National Basketball Association (NBA) fans on the recently announced Most Valuable Player (MVP), Houston Rockets’ James Harden, who placed second to Giannis Antetokounmpo, spent his Tuesday, June 25 at the University of the Philippines (UP) campus for the first day of his Adidas promotional tour in the country.

The 29-year-old guard landed in Manila from China earlier in the day, then immediately went to the university campus to meet with the Pilipinas Warriors, the national wheelchair basketball team of the Philippines and the UP women’s basketball team.

Adidas Philippines posted a series of photos from their event, entitled “Free to Harden Manila” to their 592,000 social media followers, captioned, “Day one. James Harden has landed. Not one to rest, he spent his day in UP Diliman with the Pilipinas Warriors and Mulan Lucman from the UP Women’s Basketball Team. We have more in store for The Beard. Let’s make his stay the best one ever, Manila.”

Sharing that it is his fourth time in the Philippines, Harden told the media present, “Every time I come I have an amazing time. Obviously, you guys have a different type of respect, love and passion for the game of basketball so it makes me want to continue to come back. Thank you guys. I hope I can continue to inspire you. Keep having dreams and keep chasing dreams.”

The main event of Harden’s tour will be happening on Wednesday, June 26 as he visits the Adidas store in Bonifacio Global City for a press conference then proceeds to the SMX Convention Center in Pasay to meet and greet fans.