Marcio Lassiter has been to 10 PBA Finals trips, once with Powerade and the rest with San Miguel.
The 2019 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals – which pits the Beermen against long-time rivals TNT KaTropa – would have been the eight-year veteran’s 11th time in a championship bout.
Unfortunately, he has to sit this one out, no thanks to the grade 2 MCL sprain he suffered in the quarterfinals.
“Obviously, tonight is the first time I’ve never been a part of the Finals. This would have been my eleventh appearance,” said Lassiter, who currently has seven PBA titles under his belt.
“I always wanna be out there to support my teammates, my brothers, and to be out there and just really fight for them. But you know I can’t do that right now.”
The Beermen are clearly hurting from Lassiter’s absence, since they got blown out, 96-109 and fell behind early in the race-to-four series. And for him, it’s painful as well to watch from the sidelines helplessly.
“Obviously, you never wanna lose. You know, it’s just tough to sit there and watch our teammates lose,” he said.
Lassiter’s injury has ruled him out for six weeks; he has about five more to recover. Of course, the itch to play in the title bout is there, so he hopes to return soon.
In the meantime, though, all that he can do is provide support to his brothers-in-arms while he recuperates.
“I’m just continuing, praying for this opportunity to recover and get back faster. It’s definitely a different side I’ve never been on. It hurts so much just to not be out there,” he said.
‘But I just gotta stay positive, stay strong. My teammates still need me in other ways. So I’m just gonna try to provide that. Hopefully, when the time comes, I could be out there on the court.”
