JEREMIAH Gray made his comeback after 19 months out for Barangay Ginebra on Friday in Game Two of the PBA 49th Season Commissioner’s Cup against NorthPort.
Gray played for nine minutes and 16 seconds and finished with six points on 2-of-4 shooting. His first bucket was a three pointer with 6:12 to go in the second quarter just seconds after he was brought in by Ginebra coach Tim Cone.
The 28-year-old Gray has not played since he got hurt last July 30, 2023 in a game against NLEX in the PBA on Tour, an exhibition series the league held before the FIBA Basketball World Cup that the country hosted.
READ Ginebra cruises to another easy win vs NorthPort for 2-0 lead
Gray was found to have torn his right ACL, the second of his career with the first coming during his stint in the PBA 3x3 with TNT on December 2022. He also got tears on his PCL (posterior cruciate ligament) and MCL (medial collateral ligament).
His last official PBA game was actually on April 21, 2023, or 22 months ago, in Game 6 of the PBA 48th Season Governors’ Cup finals against TNT.
Gray is grateful that Ginebra management stayed patient throughout the recovery process.
“Being back out there on the floor is just a big blessing to me,” said Gray. “It’s been a long time, like you said, a year and a half and I just feel really blessed to be a part of a program like Ginebra.
"I’m very thankful to boss Alfrancis (Chua) and boss RSA [Ramon S. Ang] for keeping me around through my rehab and I’m just very grateful to be back out there with my teammates and playing the game I love again.”
Gray said he has been cleared to play for quite some time but it was only now where Cone decided to field him in especially with the Gin Kings holding a comfortable lead in the second quarter.
He got an opportunity to have extended time in practice during the Gilas break when the Ginebra core had national team duties.
“I’ve been cleared to play for the past three weeks now but coach Tim just wanted me to get my feet wet in practice. And then we had a few scrimmages while Gilas was away. I was able to get in and get my feet wet and then I was able to feel comfortable.
So tonight was the signal for me to play and I’m thankful that coach gave me some minutes,” Gray said.
Gray said hitting his first attempt in his comeback game was just the icing on the cake.
“To be honest, I really blacked out when I was out there for the first few minutes so that was all God for sure,” said Gray. “He just guided me through that first few minutes on the floor and once I hit that first shot and it went in, heard my name, say three ball and just felt really good to be out there.”
The 6-foot-5 Gray admitted the long recovery period was crushing to his morale, but was glad to get a good support system that included his faith and the fans who were eager to see him back.
“To be honest, that probably was one of the toughest things I’ve ever had to go through. You guys know I went through one ACL injury before and then, playing that last game in the PBA On Tour, last minute to the game, I just blew my knee out.
'One of the toughest things'
"That might have been one of the toughest things I’ve ever had to go through. But it really made my faith very strong and just having faith got me through everything. So that was definitely one of the toughest things I ever had to go through for sure,
“What kept me going was just my family, my girlfriend Patty supported me through the whole thing and just everyone, all the fans of Ginebra, my teammates, my coaches, just waiting for me to come back for real, just saying we’re behind you, we can't wait for you to be back out there.
"That just kept me going for sure. So I'm just very grateful for the people around me, very grateful to be a part of an organization like Ginebra to keep me around without playing. This is a blessing for sure. So the people around me kept me going,” said Gray.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 PBA draft is excited to contribute to the team just in time for a playoff run where the Gin Kings are eyeing another crown.
“I believe we can definitely make a good run and it feels good to contribute to the team, for sure. We try to get back out of that practice tomorrow and look at the film, see what we can do better because we had a little lapse in the second half, just see what we can do better and keep on continuing to get better and win hopefully,” said Gray.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
