The Filipino basketball player’s dream has long been to make it to the NBA. However, there hasn’t been a full-fledged Filipino to play in an NBA game through 79 seasons.
As the country’s craze for basketball grapples with the fact that no homegrown Pinoy has yet to make it to basketball’s biggest stage, someone very familiar with both the NBA and Philippine basketball offered a unique perspective on why that is.
PBA great and now Sacramento Kings player development coach Jimmy Alapag recently went on former PBA Commissioner Noli Eala’s Power & Play and spoke about what it takes for a player to make it to the NBA, and what Filipinos need to continue to work on.
Despite acknowledging that Filipinos have the talent to get to the NBA, Alapag believes there is more to it than that.
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“I do think, you look at the talent back home in the PBA, the Gilas players, and even the young talented Filipinos that are playing aboard, there’s so much talent,” said Alapag.
“And honestly, I do think we’re close. But I think at the same time, going on Year 3 in the NBA, these are the best players in the world and they’re the best in the world for a reason.”
For Alapag, it was more about how they work on taking their game to the next level, even when the games are not actually played.
Because of his current position with the Kings organization, Alapag has been tasked to help his players improve on the daily. For the former PBA MVP, there is much more to making it to the NBA than just pure talent.
Although Filipinos do not lack in skills, Alapag underscored the need for work outside of the 48 minutes to consistently flourish.
“You know, their discipline, together with their talent and their work ethic is second to none. You look at the NBA now and it’s something that I’ve really learned and got a much much better understanding of, our guys come in every day and they get their work done in the weight room, they get their work done with our PTs, and trainers and making sure that their bodies is as healthy as they can possibly be," he said.
"[Even] with the food that they eat, offseason, during the regular season, and then you still have your work on the court, right?”
“Whether it’s the guards, or the wing players, or the big men, everybody’s doing something that will help strengthen their game, help improve their game and help improve the team in preparation for the season,” Alapag added.
It all seems trivial and Alapag doesn’t mean that a Filipino can’t do the same to make it to that level.
Rather, he just knows that it’ll be an uphill climb, especially as making it to the NBA as a Filipino means also carrying the hopes of an entire nation.
Alapag knows that whoever that first Filipino will be will need to have the resolve to push himself through the ruthless world of the NBA.
“Again, I truly believe in my heart that we will have a local Filipino soon. But I do think that whoever that special talent will be, again, his focus, his work ethic will have to be at its highest level to get an opportunity in the NBA,” he said.
“Because whoever that young talent is, there will be so much responsibility to not only handle the pressure of being the first local or first pure Filipino to be in the NBA, but [there will also be] pressure to go out there and still perform.” Alapag continued.
