Calvin Oftana is no stranger to winning in a PBA Finals, but clinching the Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup title felt as sweet as his breakthroughs.
The TNT winger has already performed in the Big Dance thrice now, but he’s never competed in a Game 7 until the recent title series.
Thus his elation that it ended the way he had hoped for: the Tropang Giga coming out victorious.
“It’s my first time in a Game Seven sa Finals. First time, napakaganda ng nangyari,” he reflected moments after their 87-83 overtime victory against Barangay Ginebra on Friday night at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
For Oftana, it brought the same joy as winning his maiden championship in the pros and his first gold medal as well with Gilas Pilipinas.
He won all of those in 2023, actually, and in the span of just a month— first in the Governors’ Cup, and then in the Southeast Asian Games.
“Parang ganun lang yung nangyari sa first gold medal ko, first championship ko, mga first time ko na-accomplish,” said former NCAA MVP from San Beda.
About two years later, he’s now a three-time PBA champion, and all of his titles thus far have come at the expense of the league’s most popular team.
But their latest success was arguably the most difficult as their titular bout needed seven games and an extra five minutes to be settled.
And Oftana himself played a key role in making sure that TNT would come out triumphant on the way to giving the organization its 11th championship.
He delivered 10 points, which included the big trey that tied the game at 72-all with 4:51 left in regulation to reignite their hopes after staring at a 70-64 deficit.
“Sabi ko sa sarili ko, ‘pag nakuha ko ‘yung bola, ititira ko talaga e. Kasi ‘di na ‘ko nakahawak ng bola, ‘di ko alam kung maganda talaga depensa nila, o ‘di lang ako nakikita ng mga kasama ko,” recalled the 29-year-old.
“Pero ‘yung trust ni Rondae [Hollis-Jefferson], trust ng mga kasama ko sa akin, nandiyan; mga coaches. So, ginrab ko. Sabi ni Kuya Jayson [Castro] sa akin, ‘wag kang maging passer, ‘pag may bola ka tumira ka,” he added.
“So tinake ko ‘yun, nilagay ko sa isip ko, nilagay ko sa puso ko. So nung time na down kami, sabi ko ititira ko talaga.”
No contribution was more important than the layup he took to take advantage of a defensive lapse with 6.3 seconds left to play, as it proved to be the dagger that all but sealed the flagship MVP franchise’s golden success.
“Pinagdasal ko na bigyan pa ‘ko lakas. Kasi nag-overtime pa eh. Thankful ako sa mga dasal na ginawa ko at ng family ko,” he said.
Oftana has now gone 3-for-3 in the Finals all against the same team. Still, there remains his respect and admiration toward Ginebra, since Coach Tim Cone and some of its key cogs are his teammates in Gilas.
“Hats off kina Coach,” said the Negrense star, who won a historic gold medal with Cone and the Nationals in the 19th Asian Games in China.
“Kita niyo naman yung laban from Game One to Game Seven, talagang napakahirap,” he furthered. “‘Yung depensa, ‘yung strategy ng mga coaches, puro mga beteranong coaches ‘yun eh. We stuck to the plan.”
#WATCH: Forget the Grand Slam talk—Calvin Oftana says TNT’s priority is rest after their hard fought battle with Ginebra
@justinebacnis /Tiebreaker Times#PBA2025 pic.twitter.com/Kq44X3DfMK
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) March 28, 2025
