ELEVEN years later, three-time NBA champion Danny Green is back in the Philippines, and one thing is clear—the local devotion to basketball has not faded, even a bit.
The former NBA player first visited the Philippines in 2015 and returned in 2026 to reconnect with his Filipino fans.
“[Filipinos] let you know that they love the game. As soon as you hop on the plane, the flight attendants, the people in my section, come and ask for pictures. You know they’re not shy,” he said during the meet-and-greet event of Vivo, a phone brand.
“They want to talk to you wherever you go. It does not matter who you are; they show the same type of passion. The same type of appreciation of every [NBA] player that has come here. Even when I am in the United States, I can still feel the Filipino support,” he added.
Green is particularly popular in the Philippines as he won three championships in the country’s most followed NBA teams: San Antonio Spurs (2014), Toronto Raptors (2019), and Los Angeles Lakers (2020).
He also expressed his curiosity about why Filipinos love basketball so much.
“China is cool for a second, but here [Philippines] is defined. And I don’t know where that started from, or where that stemmed from.”
After a 15-season NBA career, Green retired from the league on Oct. 10, 2024.
His last team in the NBA was with the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2023–24 season.