He’s back and on a mission once again to spread his gospel on work ethic on the hardcourt.

Kobe Bryant, with his multitude of accomplishments in tow that includes five National Basketball Association (NBA) championships with the Los Angeles Lakers, brought his vast knowledge of the game to the Far East and shared it with some of the youth in his short one-day visit in Manila.

On his third visit in the country as an ambassador for Nike, this is the first of his five-city Asian tour for this year under the Beaverton, Oregon-based apparel company.

The festivities kicked off with a mid-day press conference at the Manila Peninsula, where invited members of the media were allowed to ask a few questions and have them answered directly by the 13-time NBA All-Star. Topics ranged from his experiences growing up in Italy as his father Joe “Jellybean” Bryant played years of pro ball in Europe, up to sampling some local cuisine such as adobo.

A visit to Gawad Kalinga (GK) Taguig was next on Kobe’s agenda, which was one of his stops during his last visit in the country. He revisited their youth program called SIGA in order to check on their progress as well as to share more of his training regimen through a mini-basketball clinic.

To top it all off, he inaugurated a newly-refurbished basketball court for the community in order to aid a new breed of hoopsters to be motivated to improve their skills.

By mid-afternoon, hundreds of fanatics flocked to the Nike flagship store in Bonifacio High Street in Taguig for a short session with Bryant. To make things sweet, “The Black Mamba” even signed a couple of basketballs and flung them towards the crowd to catch.

In the day’s main event at the Araneta Coliseum, a selection of players from all three teams endorsing the Swoosh in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) squared it off against a select crew of players from Smart-Gilas Pilpinas national team in a scrimmage match at the presence of the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player.

After ten minutes of play and Gilas leading, Bryant threw his name into the hat and played as the “reinforcement” for the collegiate stars. But in the end, the national developmental five led by former Western Kentucky University Hilltopper Japeth Aguilar overcame the UAAP five’s challenge and score the victory to end the day’s festivities. 

(Photos by Justin de Jesus and Ralph Samson. Want more shots? Here‘s another teaser of our photo coverage.)