Alapag retires as player, set to become TnT team manager

MANILA, Philippines -- Jimmy Alapag, easily among the finest players the Philippine Basketball Association and Asian basketball have seen, has decided to hang his jersey at 37, ending a fabled career highlighted by a PBA MVP coronation in 2011 and a dream stint in the FIBA World Cup last year.

Waiving a playing contract with Talk n Text that’s valid up to the end of the current PBA season, Alapag is shifting to coaching, serving as an assistant coach with Gilas Pilipinas and at the same time working as team manager of the Tropang Texters.

He had played 12 full seasons and 12 games in the current PBA season, churning out career averages of 12.47 points, 5.81 assists, 3.95 rebounds. He logged career totals of 6,906 points, 3,219 assists, 839 rebounds and 291 steals.

In the course of his 2014-15 Philippine Cup stint, Alapag (1,177) moved into No. 2 in the all-time most three-points made ladder behind Allan Caidic (1,242), jumping past Ronnie Magsanoc (1,171).

“Every player, sooner or later, has to see the end of the road. I don’t know if you’ll ever know when it comes. For me, it’s now,” said Alapag, announcing his career shift in the presence of his parents.

“They’re (my parents) the first to greet me when I was drafted in the PBA in 2003. They’ve been there from day one. I feel lucky to have them here,” Alapag said.

In a statement, MVP Group top boss Manny V. Pangilinan expressed deep gratitude to Alapag, bidding him: “Goodbye and welcome back.”

The Texters are welcoming Alapag as their new team manager after serving as the team’s chief playmaker from the time he joined the league as the No. 10 pick in the 2003 draft.

“To be given the rare opportunity to have this transition to be team manager and also as assistant coach gives me to the opportunity to stick with the game. The announcement would’ve been more difficult if I would be disconnected with the game,” said Alapag.

“I’m incredibly excited with my new job and the challenge it presents,” added the player invited by coach Ron Jacobs to fly to the Philippines in 2002 to try his luck with the Busan Asiad-bound Phl team.

“Lots of tears and joy, being a part of the history of the league for 12 years,” said Alapag, among the lead lights in Talk n Text’s six championships.

The 5-foot-9 guard won the Rookie of the Year award in 2003, made the Mythical First Team thrice and the PBA All-Star nine times, on top of many other citations.

The former Cal State San Bernadino stalwart also had momentous rides as a national player as he had become a regular of the national team from the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship.

During the 2009 Jones Cup in Taipei, Lebanon star Fadi El-Khatib hailed Alapag as the best point guard in Asia.