THE FAST & THE FURIOUS TAKE PARTNERSHIP TO ELITE 40 GREATEST
Backcourt partners for almost their entire PBA careers, Mark Caguioa and Jayjay Helterbrand join the league’s crème de la crème after being named among the 40 Greatest Players in PBA History.
“I’m speechless. I never thought that I’ll be there,” said Caguioa. “I’m just really surprised and thankful for being a part of the 40 Greatest. I don’t know what to say.”
Helterbrand added, “That would be a great honor to be included with those other guys. That’s actually pretty cool.”
Dubbed as the Fast and the Furious, the Caguioa-Helterbrand tandem has been at the forefront of Ginebra’s four championships since Helterbrand entered the league in 2000 and Caguioa following a year later.
The 38-year-old Helterbrand nabbed the Most Valuable Player award in 2008, as Caguioa earned the nod in 2012.
“That’s an honor for me and him to share that distinction, to be on the same team forever,” Helterbrand said.
He added, “We got here at the same time. We won championships together, we won awards together, and to be included in this list, for me, is one of the greatest honors that I could have and for sure, he’ll say the same thing.”
For the 35-year-old Caguioa, the distinction means “that all the hard work paid off.”
“What we gave back then when we’re running the team, I keep telling him to just ball out, keep playing hard, and always have that never say die attitude. Up to now, we still have that, and we try to bring it to this team,” he said.
“Sana mahawa din sila and hopefully, we keep this tradition from coach Sonny (Jaworski), from us, to the guys that are playing now.” (RL)
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