The Top Ten Basketball Stories of 2014

As always, basketball was top of mind in 2014 for most Pinoy sports fans. Milestones were set, records were broken, stars shone, while, on the other end of things, some expectations were not met and hearts were broken. It was a year of golden moments and moments that are better left in the dustbin of memory.

So now we look back at some of the most compelling basketball-related stories that came our way in the past 12 months. Please take note that I started writing this piece a few hours before 2014 ended, and I posted it after 2015 began. It’s a pretty interesting first, at least for me.

Some of the top basketball stories of this past year!

Without further ado, however, here are the top ten basketball stories of 2014. 

The NBA: Smart Gilas: The Last Home Stand

UPDATE - July 23, 2014
Events for July 22 and 23 have been cancelled. The organizers and PLDT are giving conflicting reasons for the failure of the charity event. One reason talks about the NBA threatening the Fibr All-stars with fines and suspensions if they play in a game not sanctioned by the league. The other reason revolves around the notion that the event "was never promoted as a game". Whatever the actual reason was, the Last Home Stand was an embarrassment. However, that should not influence my support for Smart-Gilas. Laban Pilipinas! #Puso 

Smart Gilas completed a successful run during the recent FIBA Asia Cup at Wuhan, China where they placed their best finish ever at 3rd place and received the bronze medal. Now, Gilas is back in Manila to face another adversary, the Fibr All-Stars. The event will take place at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum during July 22-23.

2014 NBA Finals MVP, Kawhi Leonard
(All images by: Joey Puno)

The Fibr All-Stars are composed of NBA players headed by current Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs and James Harden of the Houston Rockets. They are also reinforced by Brandon Jennings of the Detroit Pistons and a trio of players from the Toronto Raptors (Kyle Lowry, Terrence Ross and DeMar DeRozan).