By RHAN MORALEDA, Basketball Republic
MANY great athletes have leapt from sports to screen to find stardom. Conversely, Nicole de los Reyes is ready to set aside for the meantime her celebrity status as she chases her childhood dream of becoming a professional basketball player.
More than her charming looks, a torrid shooting night turned heads to the 23-year-old guard from San Beda Alabang as she trended on multiple social media platforms a year ago while playing a pick-up game. From then on, the Queen of the Court was born and it became the giant step for her basketball dreams to become reality. She got an invite to be part of Lady Snipers in the inaugural season of Women's National Basketball League, where she played alongside some of Gilas Women standout.
Her stint in the inaugural season of the WNBL proves that beyond her sweet shooting, she is mostly known as a hustle player who will go hard every time, and a tenacious rebounder and pesky defender at the same time. It was like watching a Dennis Rodman and Stephen Curry fusion into one charismatic player that fans surely will notice of.
It is worth noting that her playing style directly put in peril her image as a celebrity since physical appearance has been really her asset as a model and a social media influencer but her style of play is prone to getting bruises or worse, injury. Despite that, she does not let her celebrity status hinder her performance.
She shared to us, "as long as nasa court ako, ang thinking ko is basketball. Kung may mangyari man eh aagapan na lang. Pag nasa loob ako, basketball player ako, hindi ako artista."
However, not all people embraced her ability and some even made fun of her saying that she only made it to the WNBL because of her celebrity status. It was an inevitable stigma, but like a virus, she vaccinated the doubters with her play and silenced them by letting her game do the talking. Known in the basketball world as the Lady Mamba, she epitomized Mamba Mentality thru focusing on the process and trusting the hard work, being obsessed with mastering her craft, playing without fear and just going hard and hustling every single play.
As she grows older, she found competing against men a challenge and added fuel to prove herself more, while eliminating the discrimination of some men towards girls who play basketball.
She said, “hindi porket babae ako hindi ko kayo kaya.”
Moreover, she is not a fan of men playing against her treating her like a baby, thus, she demands a competitive atmosphere every single time and does not think of the possibility of men taking advantage of her when she plays them.
Now, despite her celebrity status, she never forgets her first love and goes back to her passion of playing basketball.
She said, “Hinahanap-hanap ko kasi talaga siya. Hindi ko siya ma-set aside parang siya yung priority ko, basketball pa rin ako.”
To give inspiration thru playing the game she endears for life is a gift that she will not take for granted. Thus, with the encouragement of people supporting and looking up to her, she pursued her lifelong dream of being a professional basketball player and joined the WNBL draft not only for herself, but also for many people behind her back, especially women who want to pursue the men-dominant basketball world.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
