MANILA – NLEX Road Warriors center Asi Taulava will likely put his retirement on hold since the 2020 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup was suspended indefinitely due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
The 47-year-old Filipino-Tongan was supposed to call it quits at the end of the All-Filipino conference – final chapter of his 21 seasons in the league with one Most Valuable Player award and one championship.
“It’s up in the air,” Taulava said in an interview with Spin.ph. “Let’s see what happens once everything progresses and where it goes after this quarantine. As of now, I just try to keep negative from the virus. It’s pretty scary.”
“The motivation (to play) is still there, to go out and to do that extra work – the daily grind,” added the 17-time PBA All-Star games participant.
Taulava hopes to finish his storied PBA career with a second championship trophy or at least to have the Road Warriors make it deep into the playoffs of the Philippine Cup.
“The All-Filipino is the best way I think. Our ultimate goal is to win the championship or to get to the semis. Then, I’ll decide to hang up my sneakers,” Taulava said.
“I’m looking forward to seeing my teammates again. What I miss the most is coach Yeng’s (Guiao) scolding. I miss the way he scolds most of us. Coach Yeng is one of a kind. We miss that guy,” he added.
NLEX, led by Kevin Alas, JR Quiñahan and Ilonggos Kiefer Ravena and Jericho Cruz, along with talented rookies Mike Ayonayon and William McAloney, is one of the teams that have solid chances lifting the 2020 Philippine Cup trophy./PN
