RANIDEL De Ocampo won multiple championships and played in a number of memorable playoff series for the TNT franchise in the PBA.
But there's this one TNT game which he holds most dear.
The former player turned TNT deputy coach considered his first ever game with the franchise as the most momerable in his career.
De Ocampo had just been traded by Air21 (formerly FedEx) to TNT (then known as Talk 'N Text) for Don Allado midway in the 2008-09 Philippine Cup when the Texters had drawn the Express for their next opponent right in his first game with his new team.
“Unang laro ko sa TNT kalaban agad namin Air21,” he recalled.
“So two seconds, down by one kami. So sa akin di-nesign ni coach (Chot Reyes) yung play,” said De Ocampo. “Christmas Day. Na-shoot ko yung basket.”
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Of course, the second most significant moment came just a few months after that.
“Yung first championship ko, yung ding year na yun, yung conference din na yun,” said the veteran power forward, who helped the Texters win the All-Filipino Cup championship at the expense of the Alaska Aces, 4-3, after trailing 0-2 in the best-of-seven finals.
Making it even special was he had older brother Yancy de Ocampo as his teammate.
“Yung very first championship ko kasama ko yung kapatid ko, si Kuya Yancy,” he added.
All of those things came back to De Ocampo’s memories on Friday night when TNT officially retired his no. 33 jersey at halftime of Game 3 of the Philippine Cup semifinals series between the Tropang 5G and Meralco Bolts.
De Ocampo came with family and loved ones along with his former teammates and coaches during the special ceremony at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
His jersey is only the third one to be retired in TNT franchise history after Jimmy Alapag and Harvey Carey.
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