Ping’s dream beyond playing

Although retirement is far from his mind, Magnolia forward Marc Pingris recently disclosed that his dream is to become a coach when his PBA playing days are over. Pingris, 38, was the third overall pick in the 2004 PBA draft behind Rich Alvarez and James Yap. A few rungs below Pingris at No. 7 was Ervin Sotto whose son Kai will make his NBA G-League debut when the new season begins.

“Yes, I want to be a coach,” said Pingris. “’Yan ang dream ko, to share kung anong mga natutunan ko from my idols like Danny Ildefonso, Romel Adducul at Johnny Abarrientos. Sila ang tumulong sa akin at sana ma-share ko rin yung mga lessons ko from them at ang aking experience.”

At the moment, Pingris is focused on returning to the gym. With NCR back under GCQ, PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said yesterday the restart of training could be as early as Aug. 25. Most teams are scheduled for swab testing at the Makati Medical Center today and tomorrow. Teams in the San Miguel group will undergo testing with company facilities. When test results are released after two or three days, practice may resume for players who are negative. If Metro Manila will be moved up to MGCQ by September, the PBA may restart the season late that month or sometime in October.

Pingris said once the pandemic is over, the first thing he’ll do with his family is to go to church and thank the Lord. With children Mic and Caela, Pingris said the priority is to bring them close to God. “Number 1 sa amin ni Danica is makilala nila si God,” he said. Pingris mentioned that in a book he wrote about a boy rising from humble beginnings, his son eventually realized it was his own story. Danica said she misses her side of the family, too and can’t wait to get together with her parents again.

Pingris said staying with Danica and the kids at home has turned out to be a blessing. “Kaming dalawa ni Mic, basketball-related training kasi tinuturuan ko siya,” he said. “Dati, every day, as a basketball player, kulang sa time with the kids kasi gabi na o kaya hapon na kung makabalik sa bahay. But now, 24/7, laro lang. Ginawa ko na lahat sa bahay, naglinis, pininturahan ko ang buong bahay, nagtanim.”

While Mic works out with his father, Danica said Caela does planting with him. She called Pingris “plantito” and he said he plants anything from vegetables to “halaman.” Caela is also into dancing and singing. Every night, the kids play word games with their parents as their bonding. With the kasambahay, the Pingrises also do Zumba to stay fit.

Pingris said he always reminds the children to value hard work. “Wala akong tinatago sa kanila,” he said. Pingris has brought his family to Pozorrubio where as a boy, he often slept in a stall in the public market using a sack for a blanket because his mother would sell fruits early in the morning after coming from Urdaneta to load her stock. Pingris started playing basketball on his bare feet and used to sell ice cream in the streets to put a little more money on the family table. He has shown his kids where he played, where he worked in Pozorrubio. One of the lessons he has instilled in his children is to achieve their goals by working hard, to never take things for granted, to realize that nothing comes easy.

Pingris said he’ll never forget playing the game where Gilas beat South Korea in the 2013 FIBA Asia semifinals at the MOA Arena to earn a ticket to the 2014 FIBA World Cup. “Thankful ako sa tiwala na binigay ni coach Chot (Reyes) sa akin,” said Pingris who had 16 points and 10 rebounds in the contest. “Sobrang hirap kasi nawala si Marcus (Douthit) sa second quarter. Ginawa ko lang ang role ko, set good screens para sa mga shooters namin like Jimmy (Alapag), get the rebound, play defense. Every game sa FIBA Asia, nanood si Danica. Pagkatapos ng game against Korea, sabi ni Danica, ‘good job, babe, I love you, so proud of you’ at umiiyak.” Danica said her father was teary-eyed at the final buzzer. “Dad hugged me, Mic was still so young and had no clue what was going on but he was also so happy like all of us,” she said.