For two days in May, basketball-hungry fans trooped to the Metrowalk Grounds in Pasig City for The Playground Manila 2014.

But more than just a basketball tournament featuring the country’s best amateur players, street ballers, and ex-pros, The Playground Manila was a showcase of hoop culture that is larger than the game itself.

Players literally bled for points and poured sweat on the floor all for the love of basketball.

The event’s host, Nikko Ramos, couldn’t have said it better: “They say that for the truly dedicated, basketball is religion. Y’all just went to church.”