The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel had a very special guest in attendance when they took on the San Miguel Beermen for Game 2 of their best-of-seven Philippine Cup semifinals series.
Sitting at the patron section of the SMART-Araneta Coliseum was Ginebra lifer Jayjay Helterbrand.
For the first time since retiring right after the 2018 Governors’ Cup, the now-41 year old watched Ginebra live for the first time as a fan. And he admitted that he misses everything about the game.
“This is the first game I watched since I retired,” the six-time PBA champion shared on-air during the live broadcast.
“Honestly, I miss the environment, I miss the intensity, and I miss hearing the fans chanting, ‘Ginebra’. I’m enjoying it.”
Moreover, the person he missed the most was his brother-in-arms Mark Caguioa. The other half of Ginebra’s iconic Fast and Furious duo set aside his iconic number 47 for 13 to honor Helterbrand.
“That’s my partner right there. I haven’t even told him but I appreciate it.
“It’s really touching and I’m honored that he did that for me,” admitted the former league Most Valuable Player.
Still, Helterbrand is enjoying life as a fan. Making it more enjoyable for him was that Ginebra are currently holding a lead over San Miguel as of publishing.
“So far so good. We just got to mainatin it. Our defense on June Mar [Fajardo] has been pretty good. We got to keep up the energy the whole game and guard their shooters,” he beamed.
“Let’s make it loud so that the coach [Leo Austria] can’t make plays for San Miguel.”
Will Helterbrand be the lucky charm for the Gin Kings?
