ALAPAG CALLS IT QUITS, ASSUMES NEW ROLES
After 12 seasons in the PBA, the Mighty Mouse has called it a career.
Jimmy Alapag decided to hang his sneakers for good after a successful professional basketball career on Friday.
“I don’t know if there’s ever a right time to announce whenever you’re retiring,” he said before Game 2 of the Philippine Cup Finals between Alaska and San Miguel. “But for me, it’s time.”
“I think every player, sooner or later, has to see the end of the road and I don’t think you ever really know when that day would come, because I think for everybody it’s different. But for me, the time is now.”
Though already retired, Alapag will still be in the games as he will now assume the role of team manager for Talk ‘N Text, as well as an assistant to coach Tab Baldwin in the Gilas Pilipinas national team.
“I’m very fortunate to have been with the Talk ‘N Text company, franchise, and family in my entire career and to be given the rare opportunity to now transition right away to a new position as team manager, and also as an assistant coach to coach Tab and the Gilas Pilipinas coaching staff, it gives me the opportunity to stay connected to the game,” he said.
Alapag was picked 10th by Talk ‘N Text in the 2003 PBA Draft and went on to win that season’s Rookie of the Year.
The 2011 PBA Most Valuable Player also won six titles in his 12-year career, where he averaged 12.98 points, 4.16 rebounds, and 6.0 assists.
In his last conference in the 2015 PBA Philippine Cup, he averaged 6.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 12 games for Talk ‘N Text before bowing out in the semifinals against San Miguel Beer.
The 37-year-old playmaker said that he had been thinking about retirement for some time now.
“Just like when I retired from Gilas after the Asian Games, the team is in great hands. The new players who came in have a great opportunity to represent our country, and it’s the same with Talk ‘N Text.”
“I think you look at the core that we have, with Jayson (Castro) and Ranidel (de Ocampo), Larry (Fonacier) and Ryan (Reyes) and those guys, and adding two great young talents in Kevin Alas and Matt Rosser, the future is bright and again, I won’t be putting on the jersey but my voice will still be there. I will still lead but on a different capacity,” said the man many consider to be TNT’s heart and soul.(RL)
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