MANILA, Philippines – There is more to basketball than winning for former La Salle Green Archers legend Mike Phillips.
Sure, he’s won two championships, been named to the All-Star Team three times, and won the Finals MVP award during his five years in the UAAP, but the game is also a vehicle for the Filipino-American big man to profess his faith.
“I kind of like to say I’m just a missionary who plays basketball,” Phillips told Rappler. “My goal is just to try to help inspire and try to help people somehow find Jesus the way I found him.”
Phillips always takes the opportunity to give God the glory.
Even after leading the Green Archers to the Season 88 title and being named Finals MVP when he delivered an inspired 25-point, 18-rebound effort in a do-or-die Game 3 against the UP Fighting Maroons, Phillips called Jesus “the real MVP” and “the real champion.”
For 23-year-old Phillips, all his success and victories would not have been possible without Christ.
“I couldn’t have planned anything that happened, and the best decision I made was to really follow Him and have my relationship with Him. I’m really just trying to put my trust in Him, and He’s taken me places I never dreamed of,” said Phillips.
The way of Christ
Phillips’ belief has also changed the way he plays for the better.
Although he grew up in a “solid” Christian home, Phillips learned from his father to go “animal mode” every time he was on the court.
It showed in his game, with Phillips’ drive translating into his boundless energy and limitless motor — traits that come to the fore when he hits the boards or chases down a loose ball.
But over time, the approach took its toll on Phillips mentally and physically.
“I would say that I was a player who was really driven by anger and pride. There are many points, in fact, that I had a lot of energy, a lot of anger, a lot of pride, and it often ended up in me getting hurt and not having control in the games,” he said.
“Even if we win, I would feel mentally exhausted after.”
Phillips said he has suffered at least five concussions during games, all due to his carelessness and lack of emotional control.
Those brain injuries meant he was off the court, so Phillips knew he had to make a change.
“Instead of the state of the animal, we call it the state of Christ, where, instead of being beaten a lot, we just sit in real calm before the game, we meditate, we read the Bible, and we just worship. After that, my mind was very clear in the game. The decisions were very clear, my mind was very clear,” he said.
‘God, show me’
Phillips said he has a long way to go when it comes to his faith, admitting that he still struggles with his flaws.
Like when he was named captain of the Green Archers team for Season 88, Phillips admitted that his pride got the better of him, causing him to fall out with his teammates.
“I would increase my anger and my competitiveness, and I saw that it brought inefficiency and brought them down. For me, I thought I was trying to bring the best out of them and really challenge them, but there is a way to do that, and I wasn’t doing it well. I was letting the team down; I was letting their experience down. That’s when I tried to move,” Phillips said.
“I’m still working on it. I still have a lot of pride, but I think the biggest thing is to go to the Lord and just ask for humility, (ask Him) to change my heart, and take it day by day.”
Phillips’ faith was also tested when his teammates Mason Amos and Kean Baclan he suffered similar knee injuries in back-to-back games midway through the ’88 season, which put the Green Archers’ championship hopes in jeopardy.
It seemed like the whole world was winning for Phillips, who wanted to lead La Salle to another championship before he left school, especially after the team’s championship loss in Season 87.
But for divine intervention, the Green Archers the job is done as they rose from fourth place to eliminate the Fighting Maroons, with Amos and Baclaan both coming back from their injuries to play important roles in the final along with Phillips.
“I said, ‘Lord, I’m so tired. I kept hearing Kean crying, I kept hearing Mason and everybody in my memories and seeing him on the floor,'” said Phillips.
“I really just asked, ‘How could this happen?’ Most of the time, God was very quiet. That’s when I think that, during many periods of trials, God is silent and really tries to study our hearts.”
“I had to meet God in that silence. If he is quiet, that means he wants you to be quiet with him. I had to sit down, just go cut everything, and just sit and pray with Him and say, ‘God, show me. I don’t know what I’m doing, I don’t know what you’re doing, but I trust you.’ That’s the only thing he’s looking for in those times.”
After a storybook end to his UAAP career, Phillips looks forward to representing Gilas Pilipinas as he aims to give back to the country where he found his purpose.
Phillips can now play for the national team as a street after being initially considered by FIBA, the world governing body for basketball, as a registered player.
“The reason that makes me want to play for the Philippines, and I’m very passionate because the Philippines has taken care of me a lot and given me my purpose in life, my passion in life. That’s why every game, I want to show that passion and love for the Philippines and it’s good,” he said.
And that mission still includes spreading God’s love.
“I’m still young in my faith. I’m not perfect and I’m not a teacher, but I just want people to feel the love that I felt that got me through the hardest times,” said Phillips. – Rappler.com
