After two championships, three Finals appearances, and a grueling 75-game season, Chot Reyes now gets the icing on the cake.
The TNT mentor will receive a record-extending seventh Coach of the Year award from the PBA Press Corps during the 31st edition of its Awards Night on Monday (Oct. 13) at the Novotel Manila.
Reyes, 62, was unanimously chosen by the men and women who regularly cover the PBA, edging out San Miguel Beer counterpart Leo Austria to win the coveted Virgilio ‘Baby’ Dalupan Trophy.
Top sports patron and TNT team owner Manny V. Pangilinan will share the spotlight with his coach as he will receive the Danny Floro Executive of the Year award.
The 79-year-old business tycoon will also serve as the special guest of honor and speaker for the annual event.
Reyes, the former Gilas Pilipinas coach, guided the Tropang 5G to three straight Finals appearances in Season 49 and captured the Governors’ Cup and Commissioner’s Cup championships.
However, his bid for a first grand slam in 11 years was thwarted when TNT fell to San Miguel in the Philippine Cup title series.
Still, his 48-27 win-loss record was the best of the season, while the 75 games he coached tied for the most in a single season since Tim Cone led Alaska to a grand slam in 1996.
Reyes was also the first-ever recipient of the award named after the acknowledged ‘Maestro’ of Philippine coaching back in 1993, and later won it again in 2002, 2003, 2009, 2011, and 2021.
Family and relatives of the late Dalupan are expected to attend the event to personally present the award.
Other awardees include Magnolia’s Zavier Lucero (Defensive Player of the Year), Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser of TNT (Bogs Adornado Comeback Player of the Year), San Miguel’s Don Trollano (Mr. Quality Minutes), and Arvin Tolentino of Northport (Scoring Champion).
Completing the Press Corps’ honor roll for Season 49 are TNT’s Calvin Oftana (Order of Merit); the All-Rookie Team comprising RJ Abarrientos (Barangay Ginebra), Sedrick Barefield (Blackwater), Caelan Tiongson (Rain or Shine), Jordan Heading (TNT), Justine Baltazar (Converge), and Kai Ballungay (Phoenix); and Game 7 of the TNT-Barangay Ginebra Commissioner’s Cup Finals, named Game of the Season.
