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Excited to greet the 1st of July w news that Nick Johnson, Kyle Lowry, & FINALS MVP Kawhi Leonard joining us for PLDT's #GilasLastHOMEStand
— Manny V. Pangilinan (@iamMVP) June 30, 2014
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Former Arizona Wildcats guard Nick Johnson has yet to sign with Houston, which drafted him in the second round last week, but he’s already slated to play alongside some of the best in the NBA all the way in Manila, Philippines, in about three weeks.
It was announced recently (Tuesday morning in Manila) that Johnson will join Toronto free agent guard Kyle Lowry and NBA Finals MVP Kwahi Leonard in a two-day exhibition event (July 22-23) against the Philippine national team named Gilas Pilipinas.
The Filipino team is using the exhibition — named the Gilas Last Home Stand — against the NBA standouts to prepare for the FIBA World Cup in Spain in August. The event is also scheduled to raise funds for the Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation, which was organized after Typhoon Yolanda ravaged the country last November.
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It was announced last week that Blake Griffin, Damian Lillard, Paul Pierce and DeMar DeRozan would join in the all-star charity event.
Johnson, the 42nd overall pick in the NBA taken by the Rockets, will travel to Manila after a busy early part of the month. It was announced Monday that he will play in both the Orlando and Las Vegas summer leagues.
When asked by reporters how he will approach the summer leagues, Johnson said: “Just have fun. Have fun. There’s a lot of people who want to be in my position. Just go out there and have fun, play hard and win.”
The Orlando Summer League runs from July 5-11. The Las Vegas league goes from July 11-21.
Johnson will then board a plane for Manila, a 15-hour flight from Los Angeles, to play in the exhibition games.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He also writes articles for Bleacher Report and Lindy’s College Sports.
