ANTIPOLO CITY – It certainly brought back memories of the good old days for Marcio Lassiter and Alex Cabagnot.
In a sight that certainly warmed the hearts, the two former teammates exchanged jerseys at the end of the PBA Governors’ Cup game between San Miguel and Terrafirma, which the Beermen won, 122-102, on Friday at the Ynares Center.
Cabagnot gave Lassiter his white-green No. 5 Terrafirma jersey, while Lassiter handed his No. 13 red-black-yellow San Miguel playing uniform in return.
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The 35-year-old Lassiter said he and Cabagnot thought about it just before the game.
“It’s just something that we never got to do. We played for so long together and it’s just one of those things we never got to do, to have those memories and say ‘Hey, we’re together as teammates,” said the San Miguel gunner.
“It’s kind of cool, a cool moment.”
As part of San Miguel’s legendary ‘Death Five,’ Lassiter and Cabagnot won eight championships together, including five straight Philippine Cup titles from 2015-2019.
The quintet that also include six-time MVP June Mar Fajardo, Arwind Santos, and Chris Ross, eventually broke up two years ago when Cabagnot was traded to Terrafirma for Simon Enciso and Santos was dealt to NorthPort for Vic Manuel.
Lassiter couldn’t say if he and Cabagnot will be able to play again under one team, but he’s happy seeing his buddy playing again at 40 and recovering from a torn Achilles tendon.
“It was great to see him. Still healthy. It’s amazing what he came to, really serious injury. It’s great to see him just fight through that,” said the veteran shooting guard.
“You know, he’s a hard worker, so it doesn’t surprise me come like Wolverine now.”