Jaworski visit keys Ginebra PBA title win

ROBERT Jaworski is one of only two basketball legends in this country—the other being Caloy Loyzaga. Loyzaga had recently passed on (rest in peace, Caloy). Jaworski is still very much alive and kicking.

Why the sudden mode on remembrances?

Jaworski had a starring role in the recent victory of Barangay Ginebra.

Before Game 6 of the Ginebra-Meralco titular showdown for the PBA Governors’ Cup, Jaworski surprised the Gin Kings with his unannounced arrival at the dugout.

He went there because he was not just a former Ginebra player. He was the player and coach when Ginebra won four of its total of nine PBA crowns since 1979.

Quite uncharacteristically, long-talker Jaworski had but a few words this evening for Ginebra.

“You seemed tentative in your previous games,” he told the Gin Kings.

And that was practically it.

“He was so calm and friendly,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone of Jaworski. “[After his talk], it was as if the tenseness in the room went out the window.”

Why Jaworski delved on Ginebra’s tentativeness, when Ginebra was fresh from back-to-back wins to grab a 3-2 lead and move within a win from the championship, seemed like, to many, a puzzle. Not to me, though. I’ve known the guy for the longest time. Always, he has the knack for the unexpected.

It is him who invented the never say die spirit that, for Ginebra, has endured for decades.

If it was the baseball legend Yogi Berra who magnified the adage, “It is not over until it’s over,” Jaworski has these immortal lines: “Always, give your best up to the last second of every game.”

When Jaworski was still donning his No. 7 jersey, he was a human electric. Every minute of his stay on the court was filled with suspense, thrills and unmistakable joy.

He was “The Hands” in UAAP basketball because, despite being only 6-foot-flat, he can palm the ball with ease with either hand.

He was rechristened “The Barreling Big J” in the PBA for his maverick, never-tomorrow style of attacking game that feared no one, whether the one in front of him is of Incredible Hulk build or King Kong himself.

So wonder no more why Ginebra is champ again after an eightyear title drought. The Living Legend’s dugout visit was the key.