When Marcus Douthit arrived, Bobby Ray Parks, Jr., Douthit’s teammate during the 2013 SEA Games, introduced the Gilas’ first naturalized player to the youngest member of the pool, Kobe Paras.
“Hey, this is the OG right here,” Parks told Paras.
Over at the background, coach Chot Reyes, Gilas team manager Butch Antonio, and assistant coach Josh Reyes were talking in the background, telling their guest, Pasig congressman Roman Romulo, that Douthit was one of the founding members of the program.
Thursday night was the first time Douthit visited the Meralco Gym since 2015. And the 37-year-old admitted that he misses everything about the Gilas program.
“Hell yeah! I miss everything about it, I miss the guys, I miss the ball boys, I miss everything,” he shared.
“You know: once a Gilas, always a Gilas.
“Every time I come to the country or whatever, I definitely come by see what time they have practice me and Jimmy [Alapag] always talk. We meet at the airport all the time, have dinner every time I’m in town or when he’s in town so it’s definitely surprising for me to walk in and see the guys,” said Douthit, who was naturalized as a Filipino back in 2011.
Douthit, who is currently playing for Vietnamese ball club Hanoi Buffaloes in the Thailand Basketball Super League, could not help but marvel at the collection of talent inside the gym. And he can still recall the time that the program struggled to even have 10 players in one practice.
“It’s amazing just to know that Boss MVP [Manny V. Pangilinan] is still funding and backing the efforts of the team. Obviously, the players are investing their time and efforts with the team,” the two-time SEA Games gold medalist said.
“It’s great to see to see this many players practicing. Back in my time, we were like ten to twelve guys. Now, there’s like twenty of them ready to play.
“They’re still playing with their teams as well. It’s great to see that their committed to play for the country,” the 6-foot-11 big man added.
With everyone from the staff, to the players, and to the top brass of the PBA supporting the program, the Syracuse, New York-born cager believes that Gilas is in a good place right now.
“At the end of the day, it’s a hundred times better than when I first started and it’s just good to see that they have put a lot of work in it,” the big man of the 2013 Gilas team that won silver in the FIBA Asia Championship opined.
And after all these years, Douthit is still dreaming of having one last run with Gilas, especially seeing how the vision continue to live on in this generation of national team players.
“It’s every time, that’s not even a question,” Douthit answered when asked if there was still a bone in his body that wants him to put on the Pilipinas jersey. “There’s always an itch to play for the country, play for the flag, you know what I mean? You know every time I’m on Twitter or I’m online, or I’m looking for a newspaper, or anything, I’m talking to Jimmy there’s always an urge to see how the guys are doing, you know the next tournament coming up, follow them, watching them, you know I still stay in touch with a few guys here like Butch [Antonio] you know, there’s always an urge.
“My heart is always here ‘til I die, nothing I shy away from, you know what I mean?”
