Carlos 'Caloy' Loyzaga, also known as 'the Big Difference' by his supporters, became one of the basketball legends enshrined in the FIBA Hall of Fame.
The two-time Olympian, who passed away last 2016, led the Philippine team to a bronze-medal finish in the 1954 FIBA World Championship held in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
With the help of Loyzaga, the Filipinos ruled the men's basketball tournament of the Asian Games from 1951 to 1962.
Loyzaga is the first Filipino basketball player to be inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame, and the second Filipino to receive the prestige after Coach Dionisio Calvo.
Vicky, the widow of Loyzaga, and their children receive the FIBA Hall of Fame award from FIBA president Hamane Niang on Wednesday, August 23, at a ceremony in Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City.
The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas welcomes the inclusion of Loyzagaa to the 2023 class of the FIBA Hall of Fame.
"We, in SBP, are greatly honored to have pursued with FIBA the nomination of Caloy Loyzaga to the Hall of Fame," SBP president Al Panlilio said in a previous statement.
"King Caloy, indeed, is the Big Difference. With his incomparable talent, he put Philippine basketball in the world map and left an indelible mark in the global consciousness with his achievements in the international stage," Panlilio added.
Other members of the 2023 class Chinese basketball great Yao Ming, Penny Taylor of Australia, Amaya Valdemoro of Spain, Alessandro Gambo of Italy, Katrina McClain of the United States, Zurab Alexandrovich Sakandelidze of Georgia, Wlamir Marques of Brazil, Coach Valerie Garnier of France, Sony Hendrawan of Indonesia, Ângelo Victoriano of Angola, and Yuko Oga of Japan.
