MULTI-titled French basketball team Asvel Lyon is set to play three exhibition games in Manila two months from now.
The club, which has won 20 championships in the top-tier French Pro A League and owned by NBA great Tony Parker, will be in the country from August 29 to September 4 and plays Blackwater in the first of its three tune-up matches.
The French then take on the visiting Hong Kong Dragons under Australian national coach Brian Goorjian, before capping the three-day visit with a game against Gilas Pilipinas.
[See Chot Reyes wins sixth PBA Coach of the Year award]
Blackwater team owner Dioceldo Sy confirmed the Bossing already agreed to play against the French top-tier club.
The exhibition games are part of what PBA commissioner Willie Marcial and French Ambassador to the Philippines Miche’e Boccoz talked about when the diplomat dropped by and watched Game 3 of the last Governors Cup finals between Barangay Ginebra and Meralco.
Boccoz was accompanied by French Embassy Counselor for Cooperation and Cultural Affairs Marc Piton during the visit.
Asvel Lyon, which also has NBA player Nicolas Batum as stakeholder, won the French title last year by beating rival AS Monaco in the deciding Game 5 of their title series, 66-55.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph