CJ Perez couldn’t feel any more blessed to see his childhood dream turn into reality right before his eyes by winning a PBA championship.
The two-time scoring king finally got the biggest prize of ’em all when San Miguel dethroned long-time rival TNT to claim the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup title in front of over 15,000 fans at the SMART Araneta Coliseum, Sunday night.
“Pangarap ko ‘to, eh. Pangarap ko talaga,” expressed the 28-year-old as he made his way out of the venue, visibly filled with elation.
That championship feeling was hard to come by for Perez early in his career. It could be recalled that he made it to the NCAA Finals twice, but Lyceum was beaten by Robert Bolick and San Beda in both of those instances.
His only taste of a crown was in the PBA D-League back in 2018 but he definitely wanted so much more, and now he’s got it, at last.
“‘Yun nga e. Naka-dalawang Finals ako, pero hindi ko nakuha. Isa sa D-League. Pero, ‘yun nga, finally, dito sa PBA,” Perez reflected.
And the former Rookie of the Year showed how much he wanted to quench that thirst for gold. He turned his best game of the series with 25 points, on top of seven assists, four rebounds, a steal, and a block.
Perez was instrumental in that fourth-quarter breakaway, scoring seven in a fiery 17-0 run to start the period that put them ahead for good.
He finished the series with back-to-back 20-point outings after that slump that saw him score no more than 13 points in three matches, thus the immense gratitude on his part towards his coaches and teammates for the trust.
(C) PBA Images
“Isang karangalan na mapasama sa San Miguel winning culture,” said the former no. 1 pick by Terrafirma. “Nagtiwala rin talaga sina coach sa akin even though tatlong games na struggle talaga ako, hindi sila naggive up sa akin.
“Mga teammates ko, talagang naniniwala sila sa akin hangga’t ‘di natatapos ‘yung laro. Sobrang says. Sobrang saya ko.”
Finally winning a title is bringing Perez so much confidence. but he chooses not to let it get in his head too much as he aims for more in the future.
“Siyempre, ‘yung kumpiyansa tataas. Pero we need to stay grounded,” he said.
“Kailangan maging humble. And siyempre sa mga next conference, gagawin pa rin namin ‘yung best namin na makarating dito sa moment na ganito.”
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
