Jimmy Alapag bares takeaways from 'The Last Dance'

MANILA, Philippines – Like every basketball and sports fan on the planet during this pandemic, Jimmy Alapag is glued to his iPad devouring with relish “The Last Dance”, the 10-part documentary of the Chicago Bulls’ 1997-98 NBA season.

“I was in high school and college at the time the Bulls were winning all these championships,” recalled Alapag, who matriculated at Cal State Bernardino that was close to home in California.

Alapag suited up for the Coyotes before moving to the PBA where he played for 13 years with Talk ‘N Text and Meralco before switching to coaching Alab Pilipinas in the Asean Basketball League. 

“As a fan, I am reliving all these moments and they do bring back a lot of memories. At the same time, I am learning things about that Chicago team that I never knew before,” he continued.

During the Hoops Coaches International webinar hosted by Ariel Vanguardia, Alapag, aside from talking about building relationships within a basketball team, bared his takeaways from “The Last Dance”.

“Every Monday, I am glued to ‘The Last Dance’ for two hours,” shared the 42-year old cager turned coach. “As a fan, it is incredible to relive all these memories. I cannot wait for Episodes Rive and Six (which are uploaded on Netflix today).”

“As a coach, it is a reminder of how difficult it is to win a championship. The end goal is to win, but how many obstacles are there? You never know what obstacles you will face. In the case of The Last Dance, you cannot anticipate Dennis Rodman asking for a leave for 48 hours (he actually exceeded his request). You cannot anticipate injuries and we saw Scottie Pippen miss a good chunk of games that affected Chicago’s win-loss record.”

Alapag added that leadership will count for a lot in terms of dealing with these challenges and obstacles. “You can make contingency plans but you cannot anticipate everything that will happen. So you have to flexible enough to roll with the punches and make changes along the way.”

“I hope to the people watching this, they realize how difficult it is to win even when you have a great player like Michael Jordan. You will how his work ethic and attitude towards the game can make a difference.”