CHOT Reyes said he was shocked to receive an offer to return to TNT - the ballclub where he spent his finest moments as a PBA coach.
Reyes admitted he asked for several days to think about it after receiving the offer from no less than PLDT-Smart chairman Manny V. Pangilinan.
“It wasn’t an easy decision,” the veteran coach told The Game. “In the first place, number one, when Chairman MVP called, it was completely unexpected. I absolutely had no inkling. I had no idea.
"We’ve always been talking. We’ve always kept in touch. But when he called a couple of Sundays ago to suddenly bring that up, that’s exactly what I told him. I said, 'Boss, I think you need to give me a couple of days because I really didn’t expect this.'”

Reyes is one of the most decorated coaches in Philippine basketball, but he has not held a coaching job after he was removed as Gilas Pilipinas coach in 2018 in the aftermath of the Gilas brawl with Australia.
He has also been away from the PBA for nine years.
The eight-time PBA champion coach eventually accepted the post replacing Mark Dickel, who was the active consultant and the de-facto coach of the Tropang Giga for two years. Reyes said he asked if Dickel could stay on as consultant.
“My first thought was always how is Mark Dickel and what’s the status with Mark. They told me what the situation was. I actually asked if it was possible that he continue and be part of the staff as consultant because Mark and I were pretty close. We have a good working relationship and I really like him.”
“But unfortunately, Mark I think has other plans,” said Reyes.
Reyes said he already met the team following the announcement, but admitted he has yet to craft his plans for the coming season.
One thing is for certain, Reyes won’t change his ways.
“I haven’t really sat down to think about strategizing. We haven’t even had a coaching staff meeting yet. We had a short meeting to introduce me to the coaches and the players. But other than that, I haven’t literally thought about strategy and tactics except that my philosophy has always been the same.”
“I’m a big believer in values-based, purpose-led coaching. I don’t think that’s going to change. The values that I believe in, the foundations of my coaching philosophy, they are going to be the same but the tactics, the strategies, the ways of doing things are going to be different depending on the personnel I have and depending on the competition,” said Reyes.
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