Marc Pingris and Paul Artadi, long-time teammates of two-time Most Valuable Player James Yap, were on hand to support their fellow former Purefoods great who made his debut game for his new PBA team, Blackwater.
And the two retired cagers didn’t hold back sharing their opinion.
In a now deleted video posted on Artadi’s social media account, the three players were having great time hanging around right before the Bossing’s first game of the Philippine Cup against Meralco, but Pingris kept it real when expressing his views about Yap, one of the league’s all-time greatest players and successor of four-time Most Valuable Player Alvin Patrimonio, the best player ever player to see actin for the franchise previously owned by the Ayala Corporation, but now owned by San Miguel Corporation.
“Real talk ito. Wala akong pakialam kung sino magagalit sa akin. Dapat yung mga ganitong tao, sa Purefoods ito nagre-retire, hindi sa ibang team. I’m sorry,” said Pingris.
Patrimonio and Pingris were among those few players, whose jersey numbers were retired by the franchise that is now carrying Magnolia Timplados Hotshots.
Other players whose jersey numbers were retired by Purefoods were Peter June Simon, Rey Evangelista and Jerry Codiñera, Patrimonio’s long-time front court partner.
There’s a strong clamor from the fans that Yap should be given a fitting tribute by the team which was led by Big Game James in winning seven championships, including a grand slam in 2014 where he and Pingris were among the integral members of that elusive squad coached by Tim Cone.
Prior to the start of the Philippine Cup, Rain or Shine expressed its desire to give Yap such an honor.
Yap, traded for Paul Lee, played for the Elasto Painters from 2016 until the Commissioner’s Cup of this season.
