Jayson Castro finally has a PBA Finals Most Valuable Player award that he can call his own after earning as much in TNT’s successful title defense against Barangay Ginebra in the Season 49 Governors’ Cup Finals on Friday night.
The sure-fire Hall of Famer does have two Finals MVPs in his collection, but he shared both of those with Jimmy Alapag in the franchise’s championship runs in the 2010-11 Philippine Cup and the 2011 Commissioner’s Cup.
“2011? Napaghahalataan ata ako,” he joked to reporters moments after their 95-85 Game 6 win for the back-to-back at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Castro at 38 earned the PBA Press Corps’ nod and that left him overwhelmed as he added another personal accolade to his resume at this point of his career,
But it wasn’t the only reason why he was beaming wide. The veteran floor general felt proud of how they overcame adversities on the way to repeating – the kind of adversities that none of them spoke about publicly.
“Sobrang sarap, kasi ito ‘yung championship na ang dami naming pinagdaanan eh,” he said. “Actually, may mga ibang players sa amin na may mga nararamdaman pero never namin sinasabi sa media.”
“At the same time ‘yung ibang player may pinagdadaanan. Pero ‘yung mga adversity, ‘yun ‘yung nagpapatibay sa amin e. Sabi nga ni Coach, kaya naman lagpasan yun as long as we’re together. Buti naman nag-champion.”
Castro, too, had his share of struggles as well, particularly physically with some aches and pains here and there. Yet he chose to play through it, typifying courage anew – most especially in this recent titular bout.
“To be honest, meron mga support na kailangan isuot before the game para makatulong kung ano ‘yung nararamdaman namin,” he said. “Pero as a player, championship, no excuses na ‘to. As in talagang kailangang maglaro.”
The 16-year veteran would turn out arguably to be the most consistent cog of Coach Chot Reyes in this series, as evidenced by his solid per-game averages of 10.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 5.1 assists en route to the Finals MVP.
The last time he won the award was in the 2011 Commissioner’s Cup as he and Alapag steered the Texters past the Nate Brumfield-led Kings – in six, too.
“Siyempre as a veteran, kapag nakita mo na kaya mo mag-contribute pa ng mas malaki, at the same time ‘yung competitiveness mo, talagang ibibigay mo lahat,” he said. “Buti na lang nakapag-perform ako ng maganda this Finals.
“At the same time, as a veteran, kailangan mo rin silang i-guide, and buti nakuha namin,” added Castro, now a nine-time champion. “Makikita naman sa kanila ‘yung potential nila,, pero sa endgame lang medyo nawawala pa.
“Pero this time na nakuha na namin ‘yung championship,” he continued, “for sure sa mga susunod na championship, sila na ‘yung magte-take over.”
Casrro finished with 13 points, two rebounds, and six assists in Friday night’s clincher. His last dime was a pass to a cutting Kelly Williams to end an 8-0 run toward a 91-85 lead with 1:20 left to play to start putting the game away.
That very play proved so poetic for the two long-time teammates especially for the five-time BPC as they both eventually celebrated another gold.
“Sobrang special nun. Kahit ako, napa-wow din ako eh. Kasi dalawang veteran, almost… ‘di naman ako 40,” he said in between giggles, “pero si Kelly, ‘di ba, imagine dalawang veteran kaya pang makapag-close out ng game ng ganun.”
“Pagkapasok ko, up by six kami, and then one minute-plus. So sabi ko, may malaking chance na manalo. Siguro nakita ko lang ‘yung advantage ko versus kay Brownlee, and then inatake ko siya. Nag-react sila. Wide-open layup.”
And that meant, too, another championship not just for the decorated tandem but for the flagship MVP franchise as a whole as they won title no. 10.
“Sobrang special para sa akin nun,” he said. “Ang dami namin pinagdaanan this conference na hindi lang name-media, pero nakuha pa namin ‘yung championship. ‘Yun ‘yung pinaka-reward namin sa lahat ng paghihirap namin.”
