CHICAGO - Ninety-two days after being hatched by chicken giant Magnolia as the No. 9 overall pick in last July's PBA Rookie Draft, former King Falcon Jerom Lastimosa is ready to soar.
After months of grueling rehabilitation to heal a torn ACL he suffered last October, the speedy 26-year old point guard is at the threshold of full recovery.
There's just one more hurdle to make sure his knee can withstand the brutal, unceasing grind of a PBA season.
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"Next week mag-hop test. Hopefully, pasado," Jerom told me via text message this past Friday. "Dula na if maka pasa at mabigyan ng clearance sa doctor," he added.
Per Physiopedia.com, hop tests are "routinely used in the assessment for return to sports post-injury" relative to sprains, stress fractures and anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.
A recovering patient is expected to go through a series of single, triple and crossover hop steps, plus a six-meter timed hop test.
OBSTACLE COURSE.
The regimen is designed to measure the quantitative power and strength of both the injured and uninjured leg, the medical website added.
The stakes are high but Magnolia, which already signed Jerom to a three-year deal last July 26, is betting that the shifty playmaker will heal from this catastrophic injury that so many other athletes have, thanks to the advances of modern medicine.
Indeed, ACL tears no longer carry the stigma as a "career-ender." Lastimosa's current Magnolia teammate, Zav Lucerco, is a testament to that. After a year on the sidelines, the former UP Maroon has morphed into one of the Hotshot's indispensable pieces.
In the NBA, Rajon Rondo, Jamal Murray and Zach LaVine are just a few of the famous players who have gone on to resume playing after soldiering through the trauma of an ACL tear.
In the throes of a brutal six-year title drought, the Hotshots are emerging from a chaotic Governors' Cup campaign where they brought in a carousel of four imports only to crash out of the quarterfinals against gritty Rain Or Shine.
But even with an aging core and a system that has drawn fierce criticism from an angry fan base, optimism is permissible.
SOLID BUILDING BLOCK.
When healthy, as shown in the UAAP's Season 85 where he was an MVP candidate averaging 15.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game, Lastimosa is the perfect cornerstone to rebuild a franchise that has, of late, been guard-driven.
The 5-foot-11 pride of Dumaguete can serve as the understudy of court general and resident leader Mark Barroca, who still wields considerable venom but is, however, pushing 39.
And while he glides on those training wheels, Jerom can fill some of the void Jio Jalalon left, a vacuum many of the Magnolia faithful believed caused disharmony in their vaunted backcourt.
With a new team now, Jerom also shared to me the bittersweet news that he has already left the Adamson University dorm where he spent five of the best years of his collegiate life.
"Nakakalungkot kasi it was my second home but ito na talaga yung buhay ko ngayon na isang pro. I needed to let go na pero grabe akong pasasalamat sa Adamson. Kung wala sila wala ko kabalo asa ko karon," he shared.
Jerom has migrated to the Pasig area, not far from where he's taking his high-wire act soon.
Such is the flight of an athlete, spreading its wings from college to the pros. And as Adamson's nest empties, Magnolia's begins to flourish with a Falcon on its midst.
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