MANILA, 27 June 2003 — This could well be a new era in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and a new batch of stars are ready to take over from the old hardcourt warriors.
A new set of superstars is ready to take the place of the grizzled veterans who are ready to take their last journey before finally hanging their history-coated jerseys.
Purefoods skipper Alvin Patrimonio, the league’s flagship player since Sen. Robert Jaworski and Ramon Fernandez went into retirement, is on the last few years of a career that has won him four Most Valuable Player (MVP) trophies, a league record he shares with Fernandez.
But that doesn’t mean nobody will take his place. “There are a lot of stars out there who have amassed millions of fans with their skills and appeal. One thing the PBA will never run out of are superstars who will continue to thrill the audience in every playing venue,” said league Commissioner Noli Eala.
A merry mix of Fil-foreign players and full-bloodied Filipino talents are taking over the cudgels, among them Asi Taulava, Danny Seigle, Danny Ildefonso, Mark Caguioa, Erik Menk, Willie Miller, John Arigo, Mike Cortez, Rudy Hatfield, Renren Ritualo, Kerby Raymundo, Andy Seigle, Noy Castillo and Paolo Mendoza.
Then, there are still the likes of Kenneth Duremdes, Dennis Espino, Jeffrey Cariaso, Olsen Racela and a host of “middle-aged” superstars who will serve as the bridge between the past and the future.
“I’ve always believed that for every player who will retire, there are many willing to take his place. That is why I am confident that even if the most popular and well-loved superstars of this league are now on their final laps, so to speak, the league’s popularity will never suffer,” Eala said.
The mere mention of Patrimonio’s name revives memories of good old days in the country’s premier league.
But make no mistake about it, Patrimonio is still trying hard to keep their names afloat, and his legacy alive, at the backdrop of talented foreign-bred players invading the league.
He is not calling it a day just yet. And even if, admittedly, Father Time is fast catching up on him, Patrimonio will still be around under the glaring lights of the hardcourt, maybe for a year or two.
He has already been named assistant coach of Purefoods, his mother and only ballclub that has made him become one of the PBA’s all-time greats.
Although that position as head coach’s first lieutenant would take effect only next year — the time when he could well be ready for a grand exit — it doesn’t matter at all for now. What counts more is that the prized forward — known in the league as the “Captain” — is already assured of a retirement compensation that could be as heavy as his multimillion bank account.
Patrimonio also stands to set a record straight when he assumes the job as assistant bench taskmaster. He would become only the second marquee PBA player after Allan Caidic to play the dual role of a player and an assistant coach at the same time.
The 6-foot-4 forward whose place in history is already assured even before he could affix his signature to his player’s contract extension is more than excited even at the mere thoughts of becoming part of the coaching staff next year.
“Basketball is my life so ever since I really wanted to become coach once I end my playing career. That’s why I’m so excited with my future with Purefoods,” said the 36-year-old Patrimonio who admitted he’s not getting any younger. And he is now preparing himself for his transformation from playing to coaching after getting his wish for a three-year deal involving an assistant coaching job.
He has signed a contract that would guarantee him a playing time until 2004.
By then he’s 38 and having played 17 seasons in the PBA — only Robert Jaworski (23 seasons), Abet Guidaben (21), Ramon Fernandez (20), Yoyoy Villamin (18) and Abe King (18) played more.
Meanwhile, Codinera — better known as the chairman of the boards in the league — has hooked up with new ballclub FedEx.
A 12-year veteran, Codi?era was lured to the Airfreight 2100-FedEx family after the Express sent Alex Crisano to Talk ‘N’ Text.
Talk N Text, explicitly going for youth and implicitly clearing room in their salary cap, traded Codi?era in one of the rare off-season swaps this year.
Jojo Lastimosa and Dindo Pumaren — two of the best cagers to play in the league — have already retired for good.
Lastimosa has accepted that there is no way he could defy Father Time, so he finally called it quits after a fabled 15-season career — but not with a heavy heart. Pumaren, on the other hand, said he has nothing more to prove, and “I’ll quit while I’m ahead.”
The 40-year-old Lastimosa ended his playing years with Alaska, the team he helped become the 90s winningest and one of the most successful ballclubs in the league’s 29-year-old history.
Tthe Aces’ multititled coach Tim Cone has included Lastimosa in the team’s coaching staff. Interestingly, hanging up his history-coated jersey does not mean Lastimosa is giving up his position as one of the top officials of the Professional Players Basketball Association. With more time in his hands, Lastimosa would become more active in the players’ association, in which he and Purefoods team captain Alvin Patrimonio are considered leaders.
His rise to prominence started in the then Philippine Amateur Basketball League (now Philippine Basketball League) while playing for Mama’s Love.
The 6-foot-1 Cebuano cager broke into Asia’s first play-for-pay league in the 1988 season. Instantly, he took the league by storm on the way to winning the Rookie of the Year award donning the Purefoods uniform.
Pumaren also retired — on his own terms, that is — after a stellar 14-year career in the league that made him one of the premier guards.
The 39-year-old Pumaren last season still led the league in assists and finished second behind Olsen Racela in the assist-turnover ratio — just as he had routinely done in a career that started with Purefoods in 1989.
Rather than wait to see if FedEx would sign him to a contract extension for the 2003 season, Pumaren decided to call it a day.
Actually, Pumaren said he had thought of retiring early last season, when the sale of the Tanduay franchise to FedEx left brother Derrick’s fate as coach in the balance. But after consulting with his wife, he decided to play out his contract with the Express. It was a decision he didn’t regret.
Benjie Paras, the two-time MVP winner, came out of retirement to wear a different jersey. Paras, one of the cagers of all-time, has signed up a two-month contract with San Miguel, only his second team in a colorful 14-year PBA career that started in 1989.
The 34-year-old former Shell franchise player had already announced his retirement from playing in the pro league and his No. 14 jersey had been retired by Shell officials in a brief ceremony at half-time of the team’s game early this year. Paras has made history when he won the coveted MVP and Rookie of the Year awards during his rookie season. Before joining the Beermen, the 6-foot-4 former UP King Maroon had spent all the first 14 seasons of his pro career with Shell, He had become a member of the touring San Miguel Beer North All-Star team.
