Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings guard LA Tenorio finally ended his chase for the elusive All-Filipino conference crown after recently hoisting the 2020 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup championship.
Tenorio, who now has six PBA championships and four Finals MVP citations, said he waited for this moment to come as the Philippine Cup trophy was the only missing in his collection.
“All-Filipino championship lang ang hiniling ko sa Panginoon pero binigyan pa ng bonus,” said Tenorio on his MVP citation. “Ito talaga ang pinakahihintay ko, ang All-Filipino championship.”
“Napaka-importante nitong All-Filipino championship sa akin. It’s for my baby girl,” he added, referring to his youngest daughter who was born last September. “Lahat ng anak ko, naka-experience ng championship. Masaya ako na nabigyan ko ang baby girl ko.”
Tenorio, who was known as “The Iron Man” as he has yet to miss a PBA game since 2006, also credited his Kings teammates for helping him to adjust after undergoing appendectomy just before the start of the basketball bubble.
“Just so you know, bago kami pumasok (sa PBA bubble) ni (Kings center) Japeth (Aguilar) marami kaming pinag daanan,” said the former Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles guard.
“But, again, gusto ko magpasalamat sa mga teammates ko dahil sinuportahan talaga nila ako nung kailangan ko maghabol sa conditioning. Also to coach Tim Cone dahil binigyan niya ako ng chance maglaro sa bubble kahit may dinaramdam ako.”
Cone, for his part, also lauded Tenorio for fulfilling his promise to him to help the Gin Kings clinch the title after ruling the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup last January.
“The last time we hugged he told me, ‘This one is nice, but we have to win the all-Filipino (title),’” Cone said. “LA was the team’s biggest motivation in this bubble championship.”
“He drove this motivation throughout this whole tournament. More than just the points, the shots or whatever, to me that’s why he was our MVP for this bubble,” added the 23-time PBA champion coach./PN
