AS powerhouse PBA teams can nowadays be classified as “bought” considering how they are formed, Sean Chambers can’t help but look back at how Alaska during his time was proudly “built.”
The former resident Alaska import was proud to recall that his star-studded 1990s team in the PBA developed organically through the years, steadily translating into success, highlighted by the 1996 grand slam.
Although Alaska acquired Jojo Lastimosa, Bong Hawkins, and later on Kenneth Duremdes in trades, the Milkmen drafted Johnny Abarrientos, Poch Juinio, and Jeff Cariaso apart from their role players.
Chambers, who led Alaska to six championships, compared his fabled club’s progress to that of some of today’s teams that he feels get away with questionable trades for immediate results.
Sean Chambers on 'built' vs 'bought'
“We built our team through the draft. We made a few trades,” Chambers said on SPIN Zoom In when asked if his old team can be classified as “built” rather than “bought.”

“I don’t want to get in trouble with the current PBA,” he was quick to add. “I understand how things work, but if you look at the way some of the trades are happening in the PBA now, some of the better players are being traded for role players.”
“It just doesn’t feel good or look good even for somebody who lives in California now.”
Chambers cited CJ Perez, the 2018 draft No. 1 overall pick who San Miguel acquired from Terrafirma last year for Matt Ganuelas-Rosser, Russel Escoto, Gelo Alolino, and two future first-round picks. A year later, the Beermen already have one championship with Perez in the recent Philippine Cup.
“The star kid at San Miguel – Perez. He gets traded to San Miguel for two guys or three guys, but let’s be real; he’s a superstar. He’s a potential national player and it just doesn’t add up and it doesn’t add up to the fans,” Chambers said.
“When Alaska built a team, we built it through the draft,” he continued. “And when you build it through the draft, the way Alaska did, it will have its time to go up and down the flow, because everybody else is gonna have an opportunity to really get great players.”
Chambers liked the unpredictability back then.
“It was like whoever shows up that conference was going to win or a lot of times, the import can make it unbalanced,” Chambers said. “If you had a really good import that you trust and that can play with your guys, they can help you get to the finals. And that’s what happened with Alaska. We had such a connection and that helped us (win) for five years.”
“Now, you don’t feel the same way,” he added. “Let’s say this: the teams at the bottom, I don’t think they really have a chance to win now. In the past, let’s say Shell came in last in the first conference. But when Bobby (Parks) came back for the second conference, they had a chance to win.”
“But now, that’s not the case anymore. The teams at the bottom, we all know they don’t have a chance to win that they eventually trade their best players away.”
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