PBA TO HONOR WORLD UNDER 18 SLAM DUNK CHAMPION KOBE PARAS
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 01 Oct 2013
Paras.
The PBA will honor Kobe Paras, the son of PBA Hall of Famer and the first and only Rookie-MVP of the pro league, Benjie "The Tower of Power" Paras, for winning the slam dunk title in the FIBA Under-18 3?3 tournament with a breathtaking final dunk when he soared over teammate Thirdy Ravena, who was sitting on a motorcycle.
The feat of the 15-year-old Paras, a third year high school student at La Salle Greenhills, won for him the gold medal while Spain's Antonio Morales won the silver and Demonte Flannigan of the United States and Sun Ming Huo of China won the bronze.
The young Paras was expected to arrive on Tuesday evening from Indonesia.
PBA Commissioner Chito Salud said Kobe would be honored at halftime of Game 2 in the semi final serties between SanMig Coffee and Meralco Bolts. Salud told us that Benjie Paras was a tribute to the pro league and was one of the most decent young men who played the game and expressed the hope that Kobe and his elder brother Andre who is a freshman at UP would follow in the footsteps of their father.
In the elimination round Paras scored a perfect 30 after soaring above the rim for a reverse slam. He was yied with China's Huo who also obtained a perfect score.
Paras told the Manila Standard he received a text from his son prior to the finals in which Kobe said "Dad, I?m the thinnest, the youngest and I?m the smallest. Parang kinakabahan daw siya."
Benjie texted back telling his son "Don't be nervous or afrain.Always remember that you?re good, and you?re better than them. Do what you can and believe in yourself.?
Kobe's Dad who was-and still is one of the PBA's most popular Hall-of-Famers and one of the pro league's 25 greatest players said he was proud of his son's performance but was prouder still because he represented his country and brought honor to the Philippines.
Benjie said the family is proud because Kobe represented the Philippine team for the second time, after winning the 3?3 championship for Asia.
Kobe Paras and brother Andre are under contract with Viva Artists Agency headed by Ms. Veronique Corpus, daughter of entertainment czar Vic del Rosario.as
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