NBA champion Bruce Bowen to Filipino talents: ‘Only you can limit yourself’

MANILA, Philippines – At first glance, San Antonio Spurs legend Bruce Bowen’s career stats hardly look impressive.

In his 12-year career, the 6-foot-7 swingman posted averages of 6.1 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.4 blocks on 41% shooting, 39% from three and 62% from the free-throw line.

But Bowen carried those numbers to 3 NBA championships (2003, 2005, 2007), 5 straight All-Defensive First Team selections from 2004-2008, and 3 straight Second Team honors from 2001-2003.

He made a legend out of himself despite going undrafted, and he’s here in the country to tell people they can succeed as well amid similar handicaps.

“I say to the local guys here, ‘Only you can limit yourself,’” he said in an interview at EDSA Shangri-La on Thursday, May 31. “Only you can limit yourself to what you can accomplish in life.”

“It’s really important to have an optimistic attitude in anything you do,” he added. “Whether it’s sports, whether it’s education, whether it’s business. As long as you have belief in yourself, others will come around. But you have to have that belief in yourself first and foremost.”

Bowen bounced around in minor leagues from 1993-1997 before being picked up by the Miami Heat. He rose to league-wide attention and infamy with his downright physical style of defense, which many considered to be borderline dirty.

He concluded: “Shots may not fall at all times, but you know you have something there.”

The current color commentator for the Los Angeles Clippers is in the country to watch the NBA Finals Games 1 and 2 with Filipino fans in Eastwood City Mall and Glorietta 2 Mall, respectively. He will also drop by at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines on June 2 to teach kids as part of NBA Cares. – Rappler.com