MANILA – Negrense guard James Yap has been extended by the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters for the remainder of the 2021-2022 PBA Governors’ Cup despite being on leave.
Painters team owner Raymond Yu confirmed the contract extension of the two-time PBA Most Valuable Player awardee after his previous deal expired at the end of 2021.
Yu, however, said it will still be the Escalante City, Negros Occidental native’s call whether he will sign a new deal with the team after the season or will go on retirement.
“We just extended his contract to at least until the end of the season and let’s see what happens from there,” Yu said in a recent interview with PBA Rush.
The 39-year-old Yap is currently on leave for the Painters. He is running for councilor in San Juan City under the ticket of incumbent San Juan City mayor Francis Zamora, himself is a former basketball cager with the De La Salle University Green Archers in the UAAP.
Yap, however, said in a previous interview that he still intends to return to Rain or Shine once his campaign is finished and is not yet considering to retire from professional basketball.
“Ang sabi ko naman, pwede bang kung papalarin ako, habang councilor ako sa San Juan, pwede ba akong maglaro sa PBA? Ang sabi naman nila pwede raw,” Yap said before.
He added: “Gusto kong makapagbigay ng inspirasyon sa mga bata, especially sa mga gustong maging athlete. Dahil ‘yung karanasan ko bilang isang atleta, sa tagal ko sa PBA, baka makapag-share ako sa kanila.”
Yap, a former standout of the University of the East Red Warriors, had a career-low averages in the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup. He normed just 7.10 points and 2.10 rebounds in 10 games./PN
