Courage under duress
Two weeks before the PBA Governors Cup opened last Friday, NLEX import Olu Ashaolu suffered a slight patellar tendon tear in his right knee, putting to doubt his ability to play 100 percent for the Road Warriors. But Ashaolu shrugged off the injury and insisted on suiting up for not one but two games. Tonight, he’ll see action in a third game, this time against Magnolia at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The word from the NLEX camp is Ashaolu will undergo a procedure to fix his knee tomorrow. Replacement import Aaron Fuller was scheduled to arrive yesterday but Ashaolu will continue to play hurt for a third straight game. “We’re ready to play with Olu (against Magnolia),” said assistant coach Sandy Arrespacochaga.
Ashaolu didn’t seem injured when he led NLEX to two consecutive wins, earning Best Player honors twice. He had 33 points and 23 rebounds in 42:19 minutes in the Road Warriors’ 103-90 win over TNT KaTropa last Friday then compiled 27 points and 13 rebounds in 34:14 minutes in the 123-107 demolition of NorthPort last Sunday. Both contests were played at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
Ashaolu said he’s down to 70 percent capacity. But that’s not stopping him from playing. His display of courage is exemplary. The Road Warriors are shorthanded with head coach Yeng Guiao and Asi Taulava at the Asian Games in Jakarta. Kiefer Ravena and Kevin Alas are also unavailable. In the offseason, NLEX brought in former PBA players Pedrito Galanza and Philip Paniamogan from the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League to shore up the lineup. Ashaolu knows NLEX interim head coach Jojo Lastimosa is relying on him to deliver under duress.
Ashaolu, 30, played at Louisiana Tech and the University of Oregon before taking his sneakers to Spain, France and Japan. He said seeing action in the PBA is a dream come true. “I’d heard about the PBA from former imports,” said Ashaolu. “Now, I know why they call it a great league. I’ve played in Japan since 2014 but basketball isn’t the No. 1 sport there. In the PBA, the players are focused, the fans are amazing. I love it in the Philippines. If you ask me, I’m staying as long as I can.”
Ashaolu, the youngest of four brothers, was born in Lagos, Nigeria and brought to Canada by his parents Edward, an electrical engineer, and Christianah, a chronic-care nurse, when he was one year old. From Canada, he went to high school in Texas to play basketball and a teammate was DeAndre Jordan. Then, Ashaolu played at Louisiana Tech where Karl Malone, P. J. Brown and Paul Millsap earned their spurs. He graduated with a business degree at Louisiana Tech and moved to Oregon to pursue a Master’s diploma. Ashaolu said he’s a year away from completing his MBA studies.
“I did three years at Louisiana Tech,” he said. “Malone watched all our home games and used to drop by our lockerroom to give us pep talks. I’m still in touch with him. After three years, I had one more year of NCAA eligibility and chose Oregon over San Diego State, Texas and Xavier at Ohio because I wanted to reunite with another Canadian player Devoe Joseph.” Ashaolu, who plays like Golden State’s Draymond Green, said he doesn’t know where he got his height, measured at 6-4 3/8 by the PBA because his father is 5-7 and his mother is 5-8. A brother Sam is slightly taller than him and was a basketball player at Duquesne University, a private Catholic school in Pittsburgh, until he was shot in the head in a campus incident in 2006.
Ashaolu’s brother and four other Duquesne players were randomly shot by a gunman using a semiautomatic hand weapon after a school dance. He underwent multiple brain operations and endured seizures, memory loss and blurred vision but is now recovered although there are still bullet fragments in his head. One bullet hit his neck and another went through his skull, damaging three sections of the brain. It was a miracle that he survived. The Ashaolu family sued Duquesne for failing to provide adequate security in preventing the shooting but lost the case.
Compared to what his brother suffered, Ashaolu’s knee injury is nothing. Obviously, he has a high pain tolerance. But what’s even more remarkable is his fighting heart. Ashaolu knows playing hurt could aggravate his injury and cause serious damage to his career yet he couldn’t care less because there’s a job to do and he’s not backing down.