‘Mama, I made it’: Kelly Nabong savors Finals stint with San Miguel

If there’s one happy man in the league today, it has to be Kelly Nabong.

The six-year pro out of Sacramento, California couldn’t hide his elation on Sunday night, screaming on top of his lungs for the whole SMART Araneta Coliseum to hear as he and the San Miguel Beermen are now bound for the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup Finals.

The defending conference champions had done so after finishing Vic Manuel and the upset-hungry Alaska Aces, 104-99, in Game Four of their best-of-five semifinal series, marking yet another playoff win by SMB over the Aces.

“Mama, I made it!

“Hell yeah, back to the Finals, let’s go!,” beamed the 29-year-old.

Nabong couldn’t be thankful enough for this, following the journey he had in this mid-season joust. He was having a good time with the GlobalPort Batang Pier early, until the latter shipped him to the Beermen for Gabby Espinas last June.

Heads turned regarding the deal, but it is only turning out fine for Nabong.

“Definitely. I mean… But first, I wanna thank San Miguel management and the coaching staff for bringing over in such a time,” said Nabong, the 17th overall pick of the 2012 Draft. “I mean, damn. We’re going to the Finals.”

But more than that, this upcoming Finals stint means a lot for Nabong.

When the Meralco Bolts entered the 2017 Governors’ Cup Finals, Nabong was not in that trip, for he was suspended by the team — which led to his release later on — after a spat with assistant coach Jimmy Alapag in the semifinals.

And that is why he tries his best to enjoy this thrilling experience with SMB.

“Yeah, yeah. Definitely, I’m enjoying every single day of it,” Nabong said. “The dream is not ever yet. We still need four more games to get the crown again. We made it to the Finals but we not done yet.

“We still got a mountain to climb.”