Eastern Conference open post-LeBron — Scalabrine

WITH National Basketball Association superstar LeBron James deciding to take his talent to the Western Conference, the East has become open for a new alpha team, this according to NBA champion and personality Brian Scalabrine.

A recent Manila visitor for the eighth staging in the country of NBA 3X, Mr. Scalabrine said with the decision of Mr. James to go to the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason and leave the Cleveland Cavaliers, the pecking order in the Eastern Conference changed considerably with competition next season only expected to be very interesting.

While he considers the Boston Celtics as the best team in the East right now, Mr. Scalabrine, who won an NBA title with the Celtics in 2008, still thinks they have their work cut out for it.

He cited Toronto, Milwaukee, Indiana, Washington, and Philadelphia as Eastern teams that could challenge Boston for conference supremacy.

“Toronto with the addition of Kawhi Leonard is going to be interesting. A surprise team could be Milwaukee with a new coach in Mike Budenholzer, who is a tremendous coach, and another that is kinda sticky is Indiana with the development of Victor Oladipo,” said the NBA legend, fondly referred to as “The White Mamba,” on the sidelines of the conduct of NBA 3X Philippines on Aug. 26.

“And then there is Washington because you don’t know what kind of Dwight Howard we will see playing along with John Wall and Bradley Beal. There are a lot of good teams although I think the Celtics are the best team out there but it won’t be a cake walk like what everybody is saying. You, too, cannot discount Philadelphia. If you watch Ben Simmons’ posts on social media he has been hitting his jump shots and he looked perfect, and this is not to mention Joel Embiid who could be an MVP of the league,” he added.

NBA 3X WINNERS

Meanwhile, teams from Northern Luzon dominated the just-concluded NBA 3X Philippines, the league’s premier 3-on-3 competition which was presented by insurance firm AXA.

University of Luzon-Dagupan Team A from Pangasinan and Discovery Perlas topped the Men’s Open and the Women’s Open divisions in competitions held at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall on Aug. 26.

University of Luzon, composed of Mario Angelito Torio, Reynald Ballesteros, Robert Caasi Jr. and Julius Tiburcio, outlasted Metro-Manila-based SAN-C in the finals while Discovery Perlas of Joy Galicia, Angeli Gloriani, Ella Rodrigues, and Jhenn Angeles outplayed Team Fast Track.

The eighth edition of NBA 3X Philippines drew a large audience that witnessed outstanding competition in the Boys Under 13, Boys Under 16, Boys Under 18, Girls Under 18, Men’s Open, and Women’s Open divisions. —