A portrait of Manila told through its urban lore, spirituality and basketball fandom

In Manila, street-corner hoops sit beside images of Catholic saints. This portrait shows how basketball became a near-sacred national obsession shaped by colonial history and faith.

A vivid look at how a borrowed American sport became something close to a religion in the Philippines.

An American import that holds a near-sacred place in Filipino culture, basketball has grown into a national obsession in the Philippines – reflecting its complex past and the waves of foreign influence embedded in its id

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