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The story of an iconic basketball court in the Philippines and one about strong family love involving an NBA player and a champion soccer player will be among the early highlights of the new season of SC Featured, the award-winning storytelling brand of SportsCenter. The season kicks off on Sunday, Feb. 9.

Since its 2013 beginning, SC Featured has brought unique and compelling feature stories to ESPN’s flagship news and information program. SC Featured stories air on SportsCenter during the months of the NFL offseason and after their initial airings on Sunday mornings are repeated in other editions of the program on subsequent days.

Jordan Clarkson of the Utah Jazz, the only Filipino-American player in the NBA, narrates “Saving the Tenement,” which will debut in the 8 a.m. ET hour of SportsCenter on Sunday, Feb. 9, with a re-air in the 11 a.m. hour.

The Taguig Tenement in the Philippines is a dilapidated, seven-story concrete building used as a housing project for thousands of Filipinos in one of the poorest areas of Manila. The government is currently trying to evacuate the structure, deeming it unfit for living, but the residents have refused to leave, mainly because of the basketball court at the center of the property that is highlighted by beautiful murals painted on the court.

The tenement was seen worldwide last week due to a mural painted of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna following the tragic helicopter crash that took their lives along with seven others.

Among other stories that will be told in the upcoming season of SC Featured (schedule subject to change):

TOGETHER (March 1) – When New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday and wife Lauren, a two-time Olympic gold medalist for the U.S. women’s national soccer team, discovered they were pregnant with their first child in 2015, the family plans did not include a tumor on Lauren’s brain.

COLORADO SILVER BULLETS (March 8) – The Colorado Silver Bullets (1994-1996), the first women’s baseball team of the Post WWII Era, will be featured on International Women’s Day. The team barnstormed around the country for three years playing in front of crowds as big as 30,000, with Hall of Fame pitcher Phil Neikro as manager.

MARCH SADNESS (March 15) – SC Featured takes a lighthearted look at the rise of vasectomies every year as March Madness approaches. Since part of the recovery is inactivity, men schedule their procedures so that can sit on their couches and watch basketball guilt-free.

SC Featured is produced by ESPN Features, which, since its creation 17 years ago has received 99 Sports Emmy Award nominations resulting in 15 Emmys. SC Featured has received 34 Sports Emmy Award nominations and won three Emmys since it began in 2013.

ESPN+, the leading direct-to-consumer sports streaming service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer and International (DTCI) segment and ESPN, includes an exclusive archive of the best SC Featured stories from over the years.

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Media contact: [email protected]

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