The 1996 PBA Most Valuable Player completed a triple double Friday night, though his Stalwarts side lost to the Greats, 139-143, in a game that officially kicked off All-Star Weekend at the oven-hot Ilocos Norte Centennial Arena here.

Still having the quickness and the court vision that made him the top point guard in the league for more than a decade, Abarrientos scored 10 points, had 10 rebounds and 15 assists as he provided the perfect sidelight to what was just an aperitif to the main dish Sunday when the Veterans clash with the Rookies-Sophomores-Juniors squad.

Retired for more than two years now, Abarrientos was clearly the star of the show, though Kenneth Duremdes, his teammate at Alaska when the Aces were the dynasty of the 1990s, and Ato Agustin, shone in different stages of the contest.

“I missed the feeling of playing in front of such a huge crowd, against some of the best players in the land,” Abarrientos said, looking none the worse for wear after playing for close to 30 minutes.

“We (the legends) had a blast. It was fun playing for the fans once again.” Agustin fired all of his 19 points in the first half and was later adjudged as the game’s MVP, while Duremdes collected 29 points, 13 of them in the fourth period by converting on an assortment of drives and undergoal stabs.

There was very little defense in the game, save for the final five minutes when the game still hung in the balance, and the good-sized crowd showed its appreciation by applauding every great play that took place.

Both squads were beefed up by active players, though the respective nucleus was made up of several members of the league’s 25 all-time Greatest Players counting Duremdes, Agustin and Abarrientos.

Jojo Lastimosa coached the Stalwarts, while Alvin Patrimonio called the shots for the Greats. Both played sparing minutes, and like the other legends of the league, were well received by the fans.

Willie Miller tossed in 29 points, had 11 rebounds and six feeds to lead the Greats.

Meanwhile, Talk ‘N Text players and coaching staff who were supposed to be included in several events in the affair did not make the trip to here as talk of management’s protest of the Game 7 result in the Commissioner’s Cup spread.

Japeth Aguilar, who is supposed to be part of the Slam Dunk Contest on Sunday and the RSJ squad, Jimmy Alapag and Ranidel de Ocampo, who were included in the Veterans’ squad, did not show up at the airport Thursday.

Alternate board member Ricky Vargas told Arab News that Talk ‘N Text didn’t send its players as an act of protest, but rather to help them recuperate after another grueling title series.

“Our players are spent,” Vargas said. “They need time to rest because we have been through five straight Finals and the next conference is just around the corner.” Fines are expected to be levied by commissioner Chito Salud, who said that he will deal with the matter when the entire entourage flies back home to Manila on Monday night.

Meralco’s Mark Macapagal, meanwhile, won the 3-Point Shootout for the third straight year earlier after shooting 15 points in the finals.

Macapagal thus became the first player to win the event three times, enshrining himself as one of the greatest in the event, the same with Jonas Villanueva of B-Meg, who ruled the Obstacle Challenge also for the third consecutive year.

Miller is the only other player before Villanueva to ever achieve the feat, doing it from 2006.