Jimwell: Out of the darkness

It sent shockwaves through the basketball world: Jimwell Torion was busted for using shabu. True, the PBA had been dealt glancing blows before, but no individual player had ever been caught red-handed using hard drugs. And the Red Bull Thunder point guard admitted it.

More than the embarrassment and loss of livelihood, Jimwell was ordered by the PBA to pay the stiff price of undergoing a month of rehabilitation. And since there is no facility for separating one-time and recreational users from hardcore addicts, he was pooled with the latter. That, to say the least was an eye-opener and deterrent he will never forget.

"I’ll never forget the time we held a meeting during a typhoon," Jimwell says in his halting, accented vernacular. "I didn’t have a car, so I had to commute. For the rest of my life, I will never forget that. I thought of my family. If I didn’t go through rehab, what would happen to them? What would become of us? I said, the faster I get through rehab, the faster I can get back."

Torion was instrumental in Batang Red Bull (now Red Bull Barako) becoming the fastest team to win a PBA championship, ascending in only its second year. Torion and Willie Miller provided a whirlwind backcourt that took the Thunder to two consecutive championships. Their record was only broken last season by the Coca-Cola Tigers, who won a title in their rookie year.

Torion’s experience put a very human face on the drug problem, and though he has difficulty putting it into words, his feelings overflow through the tears that brim his eyes when he recalls the experience.

"Ang naranasan ko sa rehab yung pakikisama, at saka yung pasensiya," he explains. "In all our meetings, we learned acceptance. Different people, going through the same things."

At his nadir in the scandal, Torion pleaded with Red Bull to keep him, even as a mere practice player. He swallowed his pride to stay close to the game, hoping for at least a chance to come back. He never knew whether the chance would come or not.

"I really expected that I would play in the next conference (not the Mabuhay Cup). Of course, we appealed because I went into rehab right away." He pauses before gathering himself together again. "The hardship I went through, all the difficulties. But I always had faith that I would come back right away."

In the NBA, players who have tested positive for hard drugs usually faced a minimum two years banishment. So Jimwell is very fortunate, indeed. He fell among society’s dregs, its wretched refuse, among those whose only redeeming value was hope that each day would get better, that temptation would not be their master much longer.

"The management went first, Boss George (Chua), Boss Tony. Then Coach Yeng, my manager Danny Espiritu, all my teammates. They never left me," he continues in his Cebuano inflection. "And the fans, they were there to bring back the old Jimwell Torion."

Deliriously happy at the news that he would be allowed to play again, Torion worked harder than ever to prove that his one-time fling with poor man’s cocaine was a mistake he will not make again.

"I was overjoyed," he recalls. "I can’t contain myself. I’m just so glad to be back. I couldn’t believe it."

And Torion has a word of advice for his colleagues who may be flirting with the same demons.

"All I can say to my fellow players is, if you are thinking of doing what I did, don’t. You’ll only suffer. Your family will suffer, especially your career. Nobody will trust you. I am just so lucky that, even though I made a mistake, management still stayed with me. And you’re the only one who will regret it."

Sounds like Jimwell Torion has stepped back out of the darkness, and can hold his head up high to the sun again.

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The full interview with Jimwell Torion will be shown exclusively on The Basketball Show at 4:00 p.m. today over IBC-13. The Basketball Show is supported by Selecta Moo, adidas, Columbia International, Red Horse Extra Strong Beer and Accel Sports Gear.