One afternoon two off-seasons ago, Josh Vanlandingham thought of leaving professional basketball for good.
“I was already getting ready to sell my stuff. I truly believed I was done. I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Vanlandingham, the fifth overall pick of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the 2010 PBA Rookie Draft, recalled.
Vanlandingham had just been having a recovery meal after trying out for the Globalport Batang Pier that day. But he believed he wouldn’t make the cut, given Globalport’s talent at backcourt and wing positions, which included Terrence Romeo, Alex Cabagnot, and newly-acquired Stanley Pringle, the no. 1 overall pick of the 2014 PBA Draft.
“I knew they had so many guys and I was not going to make it there,” he said.
At that point, Vanlandingham had already completed three seasons in the PBA, but he hadn’t played a single game for the entire 2013-2014 season.
So, with all things already taken into consideration, he pondered on his next move. He thought of going back to his hometown, Seattle, where all of his relatives and friends reside. He thought of abandoning the only thing he had done his entire life and starting all over again, even if he didn’t know where exactly to begin.
“I had nothing in mind. I knew I will just go home and go with the flow. I didn’t know. Basketball is all I did my whole life. I know I wouldn’t have a problem finding a (different) job but I didn’t exactly know what I was going to do,” he shared.
While uncertain about what he was planning to do at that point, Vanlandingham only knew it would be something away from hoops.
“It would have been totally a 9-to-5, something I am not totally used to,” he said.
Then, a call from someone Vanlandingham had known since entering the league postponed all of that.
Alex Compton, who had coached Vanlandingham when the current Alaska Aces head coach was with the Powerade Tigers, offered the wing man a spot in the Aces’ line-up.
Vanlandingham about-faced. Good thing he had not yet booked what could have been his final flight departing the Philippines.
“I had to get rid of all my stuff first,” he recalled, laughing.
What a way to postpone his homecoming.
“I was just eating right after that practice and he called my phone. The next day, I went to Alaska and the rest is history,” he shared.
Vanlandingham, who had been part of the Tigers’ against-all-odds run to the Philippine Cup finals before the team was eventually sold to Globalport, reunited with Compton under the red-and-white. He was oriented on what Compton wanted him to do, and he happily accepted the offer even if he knew he was not going to be the star, start in games or play at all.
“When coach Alex called me, he told me what exactly my role would be. He can’t promise any minutes but I was in a position to accept that. I am on a winning team, and if I can help them in any way even if it is just practice, I don’t have to get all these minutes or score, as long as I help them in practice,” he said.
Josh Vanlandingham during his stint with Globalport
“I had been with Josh on Powerade. I sort of designed Powerade’s offense. That’s what coach Bo (Perasol) asked me to do. So I kind of know Josh’s game offensively. To have a guy who is a 6-foot-4 shooter and knows what you want him to do, it is an acceleration for the team. I know him as a person, he is fine to get along with, he is a team guy,” Compton added.
“Getting a team guy who knows what I want to do and can help others, it’s like Coach Tim (Cone) getting those triangle guys. It is going to accelerate the process for the team.”
So Vanlandingham embarked on a new chapter in his journey that saw him push his other teammates to their limits in practice every day. He found joy in those simple things. He hadn’t had much of a choice, but seeing his teammates perform well on the hardcourt reflects how Vanlandingham has done his part in practice.
“I face-off with those guys every day, especially Calvin (Abueva), Dondon (Hontiveros), and Cyrus (Baguio). I guard them every day in practice. If I can help them get better even if it is just a little tiny bit, playing better every game, I guess I’d do my job,” Vanlandingham said.
Compton made it clear to his ward from the start that there were no guarantees in his new deal, but it proved to be a great one for the two sides. Vanlandingham took the role professionally, and Compton loved the work ethic of his player.
“I don’t promise anything. You have to work to earn it. Josh knows that. It’s just my philosophy for everybody. You earn your minutes, you get them. We play a lot of guys. I am not going to promise one way or another but I am just glad we got him on the team. And he has helped us,” the mentor said.
“Sometimes, you get your chances. Sometimes, you don’t. But it’s all about us. It is usually like most things in life. It ain’t about you. It ain’t about me. It’s about us. Family and community, our team, our corporation, that’s what it is about. He exemplifies what we are looking for which is to be committed to the team. He has played his role. He has done his role. That is all you can ask for.”
Vanlandingham had played just a total of four games in the 2014-15 season, but his commitment to the team never faded one bit. And the Alaska organization’s approach played a huge part in keeping him dedicated to the squad.
“I like that. You see teams that lose the finals and they break their basketball team up; but to keep this whole team together, the chemistry is unbelievable, everybody works hard for each other, you wouldn’t see that for a team that is changing every conference. To have a team that has been pretty much the same for two years, you don’t see that very often,” Vanlandingham said of how the team has put a premium on continuity.
“He got offered a job and I think we got a good relationship. Bottom line is the choice was his. I always believe you do what you want to do. I am not going to get offended. So had he said, ‘coach, I will say no, I fell it is really time to go’, I will say okay, no problem. But he wanted to come, that is what happened, and he earned his spot. He is a good team guy to have on there,” Compton said, adding Vanlandingham wad an absolute workhorse in practice.
“The whole team does that and that is the culture we are proud of at Alaska. There were two guys who really stood out for me in that regard: Josh and Paolo Bugia. Super people. Bust their busts every day. Completely dedicated to the team. Those are the people you work with. They can take it. They know sometimes you are not going to get the glory, but they don’t do it for the glory. They do it for the greater good. That is an invaluable quality.”
The time had finally come for Vanlandingham to at least get a feel of the hardcourt when the Aces activated him, along with other younger wing men, for the 2016 Commissioner’s Cup.
As the evergreen, although banged up and mentally drained, Hontiveros was given time to recover from a grueling Philippine Cup championship showdown, Vanlandingham seized the spotlight.
He has already played in three games in the on-going conference, and although he has not shown much, he is still grateful to be experiencing something he never envisioned two years ago.
“Two years ago, I thought of not playing at all anymore then I am now in a team that has played in three of the last four finals. Just getting a chance to play again, I feel grateful and blessed. It is really an opportunity that I am grateful I have,” Vanlandingham said.
“He called me out of the blue, he told me what my told me what my role would be, and, forever, I will be in debt to coach Alex because without him, I wouldn’t be playing anymore.”
The 32-year-old wingman’s contract shall expire at the end of the season, and he has not yet charted his next move.
“Of course I’d like to go back and play, but who knows what’s going to happen. Whatever they want me to do, I’ll do it,” he said.
Vanlandingham is just enjoying the ride one day at a time. But when the time comes, he will have to make a decision, although he will probably hope for his homecoming to be delayed again.
“That’s a good thing,” he said.
He’ll probably wait for another call.
