Last Thursday, August 31, Esquire Philippines hosted a gathering of National Basketball Association (NBA) champions at Esquire Apartment.

At Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar in Quezon City, the little welcome meal was devoted to the visitation of Klay Thompson and Kevon Looney, stars of the Golden State Warriors. Unbelievably, this was Thompson and Looney’s first visit to Manila—a decidedly Dub nation in the recent past—and needless to say, the entire day was an absolute wild ride. They assure us that they will return to the beaches shortly.

 The athletes arrived in the nation at the invitation of their respective sportswear brand, Anta. We worked along with Tissot, Conzace, Remy Martin, and our friends from Anta Philippines to complete Esquire Apartment. Along with Kyrie Irving, Terrence Mann, Gordon Hayward, Alex Caruso, and other NBA players, the Golden State Warriors teammates are also Anta endorsers. In recent years, the brand has emerged as one of the sports industry’s fastest-growing players.

Thompson and Looney joined us for a meal of Bistek, a drink of Tropical Mistral, a try-on session for custom-made Barong Tagalogs and some ball chat (Who’s the hardest person to guard down low? How did Thompson’s uncle feel about being an import into the Philippine Basketball Association? Is the feud between Chris Paul ended? What do they think of the culture conflicts between Filipino basketball fans, the Lakers and Warriors? Yes, that and much more.

Jugs Jugueta, James Deakin and his son Alex, Martin Javier, Jose Sarasola, and Dr. Erwin Valencia of the Knicks were among the guests who attended the event. Naturally, executives from Summit Media and the Anta China delegation also joined us. Yes, a tonne of really nice folks.