Blazers’ Lopez, Matthews, ex-NBA player Johnson to visit Cebu for typhoon Yolanda relief efforts

Houston Rockets’ James Harden (13) pushes up against Portland Trail Blazers’ Wesley Matthews, left, in the first half of an NBA basketball game. (AP)

Three prominent NBA personalities are set to do their part in the rehabilitation of northern Cebu as the Portland Trailblazers’ Robin Lopez and Wesley Matthews along with former NBA champion and Coach of the Year Avery Johnson will visit the municipality of Compostela for a basketball clinic on Friday.

The event, which is being done in cooperation with World Vision, is part of the NBA’s continuing support  of super typhoon Yolanda relief efforts. So far, the NBA has contributed more than $2.2 million which included a donation of $250,000 by the league and the NBA Players’ Association to World Vision.

NBA Philippines Country Manager Carlo Singson expressed his excitement at bringing the NBA personalities to Compostela, a municipality that was hit hard by Typhoon Yolanda late last year.

“Excited to work with World Vision this week to bring Robin Lopez, Wes Matthews and Avery Johnson to the Philippines and north Cebu for Haiyan relief,” said Singson, a many-time Cebu visitor who presides over the Jr. NBA programs.

“Typhoon Yolanda caused sweeping destruction on a national scale, and those who were most impacted are still coping with its devastation months after,” said Carlo Singson, NBA Country Manager, Philippines.

“The residents in northern Cebu are one such group, and we support World Vision Philippines’ tireless efforts to help the city and its communities rebuild.  We hope our visit will help lift the spirits of the people of Northern Cebu as the city continues its road to recovery,” he added.

Matthews and Lopez form part of the starting five of the Trailblazers, a team on the rise after making the playoffs earlier in the year only to get swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the second round.

Johnson, on the other hand, won a title with San Antonio Spurs in 1999 as its starting point guard and went on to win the Coach of the Year award in 2006, where he guided the Dallas Mavericks to its first ever Finals appearance.