Manny Pacquiao has been into basketball for quite some time but it was only last year that he became a professional basketball player with the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) as playing coach of Kia Carnival basketball squad.
Since joining the pro ranks as a basketball player, he has not scored a point in the past two games he played for his team. Playing for only the third time in his professional basketball career, Pacquiao was fouled with 11:24 left in the second quarter during his team’s game against Purefoods Star Hotshots while he was in the act of shooting.
He went to the free throw line and sank one of the two freebies, making his first official point in the PBA.
Pacquiao’s first point in the PBA was all over the sports news not only in the Philippines but in other parts of the world.
What makes his first point in the PBA doubly sweet is that his team actually won the game against a team that just won the championship in the previous conference. It was an upset victory so it was special for the Pacquiao and his team.
Not to be outdone
In typical Mayweather fashion, Money posted his own basketball highlights on his Twitter account a few hours later, obviously in an attempt to either be at par with Pacquiao’s accomplishment in basketball or show that he is the better basketballer between the two, notes Yahoo! Sports.
Mayweather posted two videos on his Instagram account showing his skills in basketball, as if telling the whole world that he is definitely better than Pacquiao in basketball.
In the first video clip, Mayweather was shown with his team having a shoot-around. He was in the corner and shot the ball four times, all of them went in, which showed his good shooting touch.
The second video, on the other hand, highlighted Mayweather’s basketball skills during an actual basketball game. He was shown getting a rebound from among the opponent’s giants and rising above everyone else by firing a medium range shot and making it. There is also a breakaway where he dribbled down court pulled up on a dime and hit the bank shot.
Also part of the second video clip is Mayweather’s three-point shot which hit the bottom of the net.
Social media one-upmanship
The one-upmanship between Pacquiao and Mayweather in the social media has been going on for quite some time before and during the negotiations for the world’s most anticipated boxing bout in history.
Now that the the mega-fight between the two of them is confirmed for May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, Pacquiao and Mayweather verbal jabs both on social media and other official media entities are now official and have a purpose.