Chot Reyes is bracing for a difficult assignment ahead as he gets to test the mettle of LA Tenorio as a counterpart for the first time when TNT takes on Magnolia in a crucial PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup meeting this Sunday.
The champion mentor may not just be coaching against one of his most trusted wards during their time together in Gilas, but may have to put up a whole plan defensively against him as he could be suiting up for the injury-hit Hotshots.
“Quite honestly, it’s something that I’ve already been thinking about,” he said after their 113-96 victory over Blackwater at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Friday.
Reyes is already preparing himself and the Tropang 5G for that possibility after seeing their corporate rivals lose Jerom Lastimosa and Paul Lee one after the other during their eventual loss to Rain or Shine last Monday in Bahrain.
The seven-time Coach of the Year himself witnessed as much, as he monitored the said match that opened the league’s first-ever visit to the kingdom.
Lastimosa suffered a left ankle sprain barely six minutes into the game, and Lee would get hurt next after sustaining a hamstring issue before the break. Neither guard returned to the match, and the Hotshots bowed, 101-92.
Given the uncertainty surrounding the two, Tenorio is now mulling over playing for his new team, which, if he does, would be his first PBA game since towing Ginebra past San Miguel in Game 6 of the Season 49 Philippine Cup semis last July.
(C) PBA Images
It remains to be seen if Magnolia will send the necessary paperwork to the league’s office before the Saturday 12-noon deadline for player activation, but whatever happens, Reyes is preparing as if Tenorio will be present.
“That’s going to be part of what we have to prepare for … And it’s my job to prepare the players so that we don’t get surprised on Sunday,” he said.
Because he knows very well the kind of challenges they could encounter should the 41-year-old floor general put on a Magnolia uniform in a clash between two teams shooting for a top-four finish entering the quarterfinals set next week.
“You’ve seen that in his game. There’s a different energy, there’s a different calmness and steadiness when LA is on the floor,” Reyes said.
“He may not be as quick anymore, or as athletic as a Jerom or as lethal as a Paul Lee, pero iba ‘yung presence niya. It has a very calming effect and I know because I’ve coached him for so long,” the 11-time league champion added.
Nonetheless, Reyes is mighty proud to see Tenorio fulfill his calling as a coach — a path he began taking even while he was still actively playing when he joined the staff of Bonnie Tan in Colegio de San Juan de Letran back in 2019.
“I’m very glad every time a lot of my former players are coaching now,” he said. “LA is a different breed as a player, and even while he was playing, in our conversations, it was already very clear that he would make a very good coach.
“And I was a big supporter of him taking over the Batang Gilas job as well because I thought that was an excellent preparation for him for bigger things to come. Ayan na nga, nakita natin now nasa Magnolia na siya.”
#WATCH: TNT head coach Chot Reyes looks forward to his first-ever coaching matchup against his former Gilas player L.A. Tenorio#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/55vbqM385S
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— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) December 19, 2025
