CHICAGO -- Named the PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals MVP, Rey Nambatac will ride into the sunset on a brand new Honda motorcycle that was an added incentive to his coveted award.
Not far behind the celebrated "Sting-Rey" is a role-playing teammate whose gutsy exploits helped carry TNT past Ginebra in a Game Seven overtime thriller, 87-83, last Friday night. .
READ: TNT outlasts Ginebra in Game 7 classic to win back-to-back titles
And while Khobuntin didn't get a two-wheeled contraption, he got something more precious and intangible than the Player of the Game honors citation.
The 33-year old Cagayan native etched his name in the pantheon of the league's big-time performances.
During the Finals series, the 6-foot-4, 192-pound forward averaged just 5.7 points and 1.4 rebounds per game while shooting only 40 percent from the field (15-of-37) and 27.2 percent from 3 (6-of-22).
Those are the kind of numbers that don't exactly put an X mark on your jersey number in the opposing team's scouting report.
GAME 7 IS WHERE AMAZING HAPPENS.
But in Game Seven, the stage where legends are made and heroes are born, Khobuntin stepped up to the plate.
With sniper Roger Pogoy battling cramps and import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson dealing with the twin issues of a groin injury and a mild hamstring pull, Glenn delivered a much-needed 14 points.
Khobuntin drilled 6-of-13 shots including 2-for-6 from long distance. His killer threeat the 2:22 mark in overtime handed TNT an 85-79 lead that held until the final buzzer.
In the haste with which Game Seven was played, followed by the daze that ensued, the Gin Kings probably didn't know what hit them.
In boxing, as the great Manny Pacquiao once told me, the punches that hurt the most are those that a fighter doesn't see coming.
Ginebra definitely didn't see Khobuntin coming.
"HE WAS THE DIFFERENCE," TNT DEPUTY COACH JOSH REYES TOLD ME VIA TEXT MESSAGE.
And while Reyes admits he didn't expect Khobuntin's heroics, he wasn't surprised, either.
"We know how tough and fearless he is."
Glenn's rise to prominence is pleasantly surprising, but it ain't shocking at all.
A 2014 UAAP champ out of National University, Khobuntin was a blue-chip prospect who barged into the league as the 10th overall pick in the 2015 Rookie Draft.
Before playing a couple of seasons at NLEX he toiled, maybe languish is a more appropriate term, at Terrafirma where he averaged 7.2 points and 2.1 rebounds an outing for three years.
Landing at TNT as a free agent in February 2021 saved his career.
And here he is now, the PBA's newest poster child for making the most out of second chances.
Since joining the Tropang Giga, he has become a champion four times over.and a trusted rotational player.
And thanks to him, the TNT Tropang Giga didn't just have a glorious run in the Commissioner's Cup, they had a happy ending.
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