NBA superstar Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers rocked Manila after he surprisingly played in the exhibition game of the UAAP All-Stars and the Smart Gilas Pilipinas National Team. Bryant's visit is part of his five-city Asian tour sponsored by Nike dubbed "Take Every Advantage."

With the collegiate selection trailing most of the game, "The Black Mamba" made a shocking entrance that sent the crowd in the Araneta Coliseum into a frenzy. Making the situation even more special was his move to wear an FEU Tamaraws jersey. Nike has been sponsoring the FEU Tamaraws Basketball team since 2002.

FEU Coach Bert Flores was the one handling the UAAP team and he said the experience of coaching Kobe even for a brief period was priceless. He also noted that the FEU jersey used was supposed to be just for autograph purposes but luckily Bryant chose to wear it. The special jersey will likely not be seen in FEU anytime soon because Kobe tossed it to a very lucky fan in the crowd.

The five-time NBA champion played eight minutes and the highlights include a couple of assists and dunks including a breakaway slam off a steal from former Tamaraw Mark Barroca.

The UAAP boys threatened to steal the game but Smart Gilas held on to win 45-41. Tournament organizers noted that this was the first time that Kobe insisted on scrimmaging during the tour.

Tamaraws RR Garcia and JR Cawaling said they were surprised and extremely flattered that their NBA hero was wearing the Green and Gold during the short time they shared the court with him.

Guard Jens Knuttel also made his own Kobe-moment after tightly embracing Bryant in mid-court with fans and players roaring at the background during the end of the game.

Bryant was immediately whisked off afterwards to proceed to his next stop but was quoted saying that he truly enjoys visiting Manila and plans to make another appearance in the future.

The Tams and their fellow Nike-sponsored teammates from La Salle and Ateneo were unanimous in saying that Kobe's competitive spirit and dedication to hard work inspired them.

Interestingly, the 15-year veteran is the third NBA player to wear an FEU jersey, while visiting the Philippines. The first was Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics in 2003 and Vince Carter in 2005. Pierce and Carter visited the FEU campus during their brief stops.

Coach Bert said he hopes the experience further energizes his players this UAAP season given that they were able to play and donned the same uniform with one of the greatest players and winners in basketball history.

Source: www.feu.edu.ph