After experiencing the passion and energy of basketball-crazy Filipino fans last year, San Antonio forward Jeremy Sochan believes it’s the perfect time for the NBA to bring the Global Games back to the Philippines.
Sochan had the opportunity to face off against Gilas Pilipinas in a tune-up game for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament last year in his home country, Poland. That brief encounter left a lasting impression on him.
The ninth overall pick of the 2022 NBA Draft recalled how surprised he was to see Filipino fans filling half of Arena Sosnowiec during the friendly, which Poland won 82-80 in a close match.
“You know, we were playing, and all of a sudden, I’m warming up, I’m going onto the court, and, like, half the arena is, you know, from the Philippines. So I was like, OK, this is crazy. And they were, you know, energetic, loud,” Sochan recalled during his media availability for the NBA Rising Stars Invitational Philippines Qualifiers.
“And, you know, as the game went on, it was just the same thing. Like, they never stopped. And I think that’s something we need, you know, in general, in basketball,” he added.
Having witnessed it firsthand, Sochan is convinced that the Philippines would be the perfect host for the NBA’s next Global Games.
(C) NBA Philippines
The 6-foot-8 do-it-all forward was part of this year’s NBA Global Games, held in his teammate Victor Wembanyama’s home country of France, where the Spurs split their two-game regular-season series against the Indiana Pacers last January.
The Philippines, meanwhile, had the honor of hosting its first NBA Global Games on October 10, 2013, when the James Harden-led Houston Rockets defeated Paul George and the Indiana Pacers, 116-96, in a preseason matchup.
“Hopefully, one day, you know, we played in Paris for the NBA Global Games. Hopefully, I feel like this would be a perfect spot for, you know, an NBA game one day. Maybe the Spurs will be in it. We’ll see. But, you know, it’s good vibes here,” said Sochan.
Now in his second day in the country, Sochan admitted he didn’t know what to expect when he flew to the Philippines, but he was pleasantly surprised by the overwhelming support.
He didn’t even know he had fans in the country—until he saw just how many showed up and showed their love.
The 21-year-old Baylor product shared that he had heard plenty of good things about the Philippines from one of his best friends, who is half-Filipino, and had seen countless highlights of the country’s culture and basketball scene on Instagram.
And it’s safe to say that the real-life experience didn’t disappoint.
“Yeah, it’s crazy. I didn’t really know what to expect. One of my best friends, Carl, he’s half-Filipino, so he used to tell me a lot about the basketball culture here and how crazy it is. But I’d never really seen it in person, so I didn’t know,” said Sochan.
“So I think it’s a big part of the basketball culture. It’s super cool to see. I see a lot of stuff on Instagram. Even, like, I didn’t know that I had so many fans from the Philippines. So it’s been a blessing.”
#WATCH: Jeremy Sochan talks about facing Gilas in their OQT tune-up and his first impression of Philippine basketball 🏀
📹 @jonashdcd /Tiebreaker Times #NBARisingStars pic.twitter.com/iYlAZSsCz0
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) May 7, 2025
