Business
A National Team Carrying the Country's 'Puso': How Gilas Pilipinas and the World Cup Moved a Basketball-Mad Nation
No team stirs Filipino emotions like the men's national basketball team, Gilas Pilipinas. In 2023 it set a FIBA attendance record at the World Cup co-hosted with Japan and Indonesia, then won Asian Games gold for the first time in 61 years. This piece traces how it became a national brand.