Philippines to compete in 2020 FIBA Esports Open

The Philippines is joining the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) in its inaugural series of exhibition e-basketball games that will begin on June 19, 2020. 

The Philippine team will be joined by Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Cyprus, Indonesia, Italy, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, New Zealand, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, and Ukraine in the event dubbed the FIBA Esports Open 2020, the federation's first-ever international esports competition for national teams.

"FIBA is extremely proud and excited to start its esports journey with the FIBA Esports Open 2020, a pilot project of exhibition games between national teams in collaboration with NBA 2K," said Frank Leenders, FIBA Media and Marketing Services Director-General. "The esports initiative was identified by the FIBA Central Board as important and consistent with the strategic objective to enlarge the FIBA Family. In these challenging times, we feel encouraged by the enthusiasm of some of our National Federations who are already active in this space and have been our charter partners during the last few months."

Produced from FIBA's new Esports Studio in Riga, Latvia, the FIBA Esports Open 2020 series will feature a daily four-hour show composed of six games. These matches will also be shown via live stream on FIBA's Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube channels with live English commentary to boot. FIBA has partnered with the NBA 2K brand for this landmark initiative. 

"NBA 2K is honored to partner with FIBA in creating the FIBA Esports Open 2020, " stated Jason Argent, Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations at 2K. "Through these matches, we’re excited to be able to celebrate the global appeal of basketball."

The teams will play the latest edition of NBA 2K using Pro-AM mode, which will also allow full customization of player avatars, uniforms, and arena designs. Each squad may have a maximum of seven players -- five playing on the court and two reserves.

The Philippine team will be made up of Rocky Brana, Philippe Alcaraz IV, Al Timajo,  Clark Banzon, Angelico John Cruzin, Rial Polog Jr. and Custer Galas. They will first play Indonesia on July 19.