Gavina named Elasto Painters head coach
RAIN or Shine has promoted Chris Gavina as its new head coach for the 46th season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
The Elasto Painters announced the news over their social media pages on Monday.
“We are excited to announce the appointment of Chris Gavina as Rain or Shine’s Head Coach. He brings with him several years of experience as a coach in both the PBA and MPBL,” the team wrote.
Gavina, 41, is set to call the shots for Rain or Shine after working as an assistant coach for the team since 2018.
He replaced former head coach Caloy Garcia, whom the Elasto Painters named as active consultant.
Garcia also remains as the head of basketball operations for the Rain or Shine franchise, which he led to the quarterfinals of the 2020 Philippine Cup bubble.
A graduate of Stevens Institute of Technology, Gavina started his coaching career in the PBA as the lead assistant coach to then player-head coach Manny Pacquiao, the world’s only eight-division world boxing champion and eventual senator of the Philippines.
While he was an assistant, Gavina acted as the de-facto head coach of the team, formerly known as Mahindra Enforcer and now Terrafirma Dyip, which he led to a 2016 Governors’ Cup quarterfinals appearance.
It’s the only playoffs appearance of the Kia franchise since joining the PBA in 2014.
In December 2017, Gavina resigned from his head coaching position at Kia.
He then took his act to the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League, coaching the Valenzuela Classic and the Bacoor Strikers.
In 2018, Gavina made his PBA return as an assistant coach of the Elasto Painters.