CHICAGO - Mostly overworked and underpaid, Matthew Wright spent the best six years of his hoops life playing in the PBA.
He loved it so much he didn't complain.
The consummate pro, he came to practice early and left late, turning in a work ethic that allowed him to carry an independent team to seven playoffs appearances.
As much as he would have loved to stay with the Phoenix Fuel Masters, his growing family and the obligation to provide for them, triggered a reluctant but necessary departure for the Japan B.League in 2022.
READ Matthew Wright moves to B.League contender Kawasaki
Wright carried with him the same principles while playing for the Kyoto Hannaryz, where he logged career-highs in rebounds (10) and assists (12) and points in one game (37) during his brief tenure.
After two glorious seasons at Kyoto, the 6-foot-4, 200-pound point guard pondered his options in free agency.
Knowing that the two Ks in life - karma and kismet - align, the universe in a way that good deeds are often rewarded, he waited patiently.
NEW CHAPTER.
This month, Matthew signed with the Kawasaki Brave Thunders and got his bag.
Per my sources in Japan, his deal is worth $38,000 a month for two years.
To those who slept through math class, that's P2.2 million a month in today's dollar-to-peso conversion or roughly P26.4 million a year.
It's not bad. It's great.
The always modest Matthew didn't want to delve on the value of his newly-minted deal. From his perch in Toronto where he is spending time with family before reporting back to Japan next month, he told me he feels "blessed and grateful."
Luck had little to do with how Wright got here. Everything's earned. Investments were made from high school in Canada, to the US NCAA in college, to the Quimpers in France, the Dragons in Malaysia and the PBA.
BLOOD. SWEAT. TEARS.
"They've been in Japan basketball since 1950. So much history and culture. Big fan base and it's in Tokyo," he said of his new team.
And then, he pauses, "I look good in crimson."
At age 33, Matthew still has a lot of hoops left in him and a return to the PBA is always on the back of his mind.
No place like home.
Meanwhile, he will stay overseas like so many other full-blooded and half-blooded Filipinos. It's not a knock on the PBA. It's just a brutal reality.
As long as a monumental gap in pay exists, the players' migration will never cease.
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