CHOT Reyes beat out friend and rival Tim Cone to win a record sixth PBA Coach of the Year award in his first year back from a long sabbatical, a timely tonic for the self-described "most hated man in Philippine basketball today."
The multi-titled coach led TNT to its first championship in six years right in his comeback season to get the nod of the PBA Press Corps, which put more weight on that over Cone's Governors' Cup run with Barangay Ginebra.
Reyes, who has come under fire after Gilas Pilipinas' loss to Indonesia in the gold-medal game of the last SEA Games, will be awarded the Baby Dalupan trophy during the PBAPC Awards Night on Tuesday at Novotel Manila Araneta Center.
"Honored to receive my 6th PBA Coach of the Year Award. Thank you to the PBA Press Corps for bestowing this award to me despite being the most hated man in Philippine basketball today," he wrote in a post on LInkedin.
[See Alfrancis Chua a two-time winner of Coach of Year award]
"In my defeats, I’ve taken full responsibility and accountability for the result, never making excuses nor blaming anyone else. But in my achievements, I always give credit to the team around me - my fellow coaches, management, utility staff, most especially the players," he added.
The six Coach of the Year awards of Reyes are the most in the history of the PBAPC, but the first for him since last winning it in 2011.
It likewise marked the third time he won it while calling the shots for the telecommunication franchise, becoming only the second coach to win it three times with the same team after San Miguel Beer’s Leo Austria.
Reyes leads 14 other awardees to be feted by the men and women regularly covering the PBA beat during the two-hour affair to be hosted by veteran sportscaster Sev Sarmenta and former courtside reporter and now news anchor Rizza Diaz.
Re-elected Bulakan, Bulacan mayor and former MVP Vergel Meneses will be the guest of honor in the program that starts at 7 p.m.
Barangay Ginebra governor Alfrancis Chua will also share the limelight as recipient of the Danny Floro Executive of the Year, so is NorthPort forward Arwind Santos as Defensive Player of the Year, June Mar Fajardo for the Bogs Adornado Comeback Player of the Year, and Meralco’s Allein Maliksi for Mr. Quality Minutes.
Other awardees include TNT’s Mikey Williams (Scoring Champion), the group of Terrafirma’s Joshua Munzon, NorthPort’s Jamie Malonzo, Calvin Oftana of NLEX, Williams, and Rain or Shine’s Leonard Santillan (All-Rookie Team), the quartet of Williams, Magnolia’s Ian Sangalang, Robert Bolick of NorthPort, and Matthew Wright of Phoenix, (Order of Merit) along with officials of San Miguel and NorthPort (Game of the Season).
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