PETER June Simon and Cyrus Baguio may be at the twilight of their careers, but they never stop being an inspiration to the next generation of PBA players from Mindanao.
"Yung mga nauna ang naging motivation para sa amin, sila kuya PJ at sila Cyrus," said Ginebra guard Scottie Thompson on The Prospects Pod. "Kung anong narating nila, yun din yung goal namin."
Simon was an unknown commodity from Makilala, Cotabato when he made a name for himself for Fash Liquid Detergent in the Philippine Basketball League (PBL) before the Purefoods franchise gave him his PBA break in 2004.
Sixteen years later, the Scoring Apostle is an eight-time PBA champion and has stayed all his career for the same franchise.
Meanwhile, Baguio was a budding talent from Iligan City before he went to University of Santo Tomas.
Although he was picked in the second round of the 2003 PBA Draft, he certainly made his mark in the pro league and won three titles in his 17 years in the league across his time in Red Bull, Air21, Ginebra, Alaska, Phoenix, and NLEX.
Those success stories spur the next generation of talents in the pros to continue hoisting the flag for those down South.
"Without them, hindi naman namin alam kung saan yung career namin pupunta eh. Dahil sa kanila, nakita namin yun, so sabi namin sa sarili namin na baka kaya din namin," said Thompson, a native of Digos, Davao del Sur.
Meralco's Baser Amer, who hails from Davao City, agreed. "Hindi namin akalain na mapupunta talaga kami dito," he said.
For Cagayan de Oro-born Jio Jalalon, the chances given to Mindanao ballers are what drives most of them to work harder as they understood how rare these opportunities come.
"Nung nasa Mindanao kami, hindi mo talaga aakalain na mapupunta ka sa Maynila, so ang daming struggles na pagdadaanan mo kung gusto mo marating yung pangarap mo at talagang pagta-trabahuan mo talaga," the Magnolia defender said.
Now that all three are in the PBA, they had their chances to play in front of their hometown crowd whenever the league goes out-of-town.
"Nakakaoverwhelm din kasi hindi ko personally expected na ganoon pala kagrabe yung suporta ng mga tiga-sa amin para sa akin," said Thompson. "Papunta ka pa lang, ang dami nang humihingi ng ticket, pero talagang papanoorin ka nila. Halos yung buong angkan mo, papanoorin ka in-person, so nakaka-amaze talaga."
But it isn't limited to their relatives.
And just like the Simons and Baguios before, it's now Thompson, Jalalon, and Amer who the next set of ballers from the South are looking up to, serving as the youth's inspiration as they continue to dream.
"Ganoon din kasi ako dati pag napapanood ko yung mga idol ko. Kulang na lang papirmahan ko yung mukha ko sa kanila. Ganoon din siguro yung feeling ng mga bata ngayon," Thompson reminisced.
"Pababa ka pa lang ng eroplano, makikita mo na sa mga bata doon yung excitement nila," said Jalalon. "Syempre yung mga nakakakilala sa 'yo, maikukwento nila yung napagdaanan mo na hirap at kung paano mo naabot yung pangarap mo. So inspiring para sa amin. Masaya kami na yung mga bata, gusto kaming gayahin."
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