PARAS CLEARED TO COMPETE IN FIBA U18 SLAM DUNK CONTEST
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 23 Jul 2014
Paras.
Kobe Paras, son of PBA legend and two-time MVP Benjie Paras has been cleared to compete in the FIBA Under 18 Slam Dunk contest in Qatar from August 16-29.
Benjie Paras said his 16 year old son was given permission by Cathedral College in Los Angeles to compete in the event and was ?very happy to be home and to be able to compete in the Slam Dunk? because he missed the Philippines and the family missed him.
The son of the acknowledged ?Tower of Power? who is the only PBA rookie to win the MVP award in the same year.
Paras won the last U18 Slam Dunk contest when he was a junior at La Salle, Greenhills with a spectacular dunk when he soared over teammate Thirdy Ravena while Ravena was seated on a motorcycle.
Paras received a perfect 10 from the judges when he executed a between the legs slam in the semi finals and then lifted his degree of difficulty a notch in the finals to beat fancied 6?7? Antonio Morales of Spain and 6?5? Demonte Flannigan of the US. At that time Paras was only 6?3?.
Yahoo Philippines reported that Paras recently exploded with 22 points highlighted by three booming triples before fouling out with 48 seconds to go in a 57-50 defeat to Long Beach Poly in the DeMar DeRozan tournament.
Los Angeles Times' Eric Sondheimer reported that Paras' electrifying performance wowed the crowd, who chanted "Ko-Be, Ko-Be, Ko-Be" as if he was talismanic Lakers star Kobe Bryant, the player the Filipino was named for.
Paras flew to the US last year to join Cathedral where he grew from a 6-3 guard to a 6-6 forward.
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