FORMER San Miguel Beer coach Jong Uichico was among the well-wishers after one-time NBA All-Star Cedric Ceballos revealed on Wednesday that he is an uphill fight against Covid-19 in a hospital.
"On my 10th day in ICU, COVID-19 is officially kicking my butt, I am asking ALL family, friends, prayer warriors healers for your prayers and well wish for my recovery," Ceballos, 52, said in a post on his Facebook page.
"If I have done and anything to you in the past , allow me to publicly apologize. My fight is not done….." he added.
Basketball fans remember Ceballos as the high-scoring, 6-7 forward who played with the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Detroit Pistons, and the Dallas Mavericks in a 12-year NBA career that ended in 2001.
The high points of his career came in 1994 when Ceballos led the Lakers in scoring, 1993 when he won the slam-dunk title in the All-Star Weekend, and later reached the NBA Finals with the Phoenix Suns against Michael Jordan and the Bulls.
But not a lot of fans remember that Ceballos, late in his career, took his act to the Philippines as a replacement import for the Beermen in the 2003 PBA Reinforced Conference Finals against Coca Cola.
The former NBA player suited up in one game, scoring 11 points in an 86-83 San Miguel win over the Tigers. He never played another PBA game again as Johnson became healthy enough to finish the series, which the Tigers won, 4-3.
Uichico, though, has a lot more memories about Ceballos, describing him as a 'great person.'
'Kind and religious'
"Yes he is really kind and religious," said Uichico, now an assistant coach of Tab Baldwin in the national team. "I think he had a reputation during his NBA days but I did not see that when he was here."
"Let us pray for him," he added.
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