TWO new members of the PBA 50 Greatest Players shared the same choices as their GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) in the entire history of Asia's pioneering pro league.
While today’s generation of cage fans have June Mar Fajardo as their likely pick, Jeff Cariaso and Bong Hawkins opted to go for the OGs.
It’s the legendary Robert Jaworski Sr. for Cariaso, while Hawkins leaned toward naming Jaworski and four-time MVP Ramon Fernandez as his GOAT.
Both Cariaso and Hawkins were part of the 10 players added to complete the PBA's 50 Greatest list in time for the league's golden-anniversary celebration.
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Cariaso, 52, said Jaworski’s popularity and as one of those who laid the foundation for Asia’s oldest professional league will always put him in the discussion.
“His name is still brought up I’m sure often in the media, players. His never say die mantra is still what they talk about now,” said Cariaso of the now 79-year-old Jaworski, who served as the face of the fabled Toyota franchise, and later on built the legacy of Barangay Ginebra.
“And I know to a certain extent there’s always a conversation for new players that play for Ginebra, but they don’t forget or it’s discussed that it was Jaworski who really brought this feeling in and way of playing,” added the now Blackwater head coach.
“It has to be him (Jaworski) because I think in reality, he is one person who, when you think about the PBA, he’s the one you think about.”
The 6-foot-1 guard known for his barreling drives was a 13-time champion in a playing career that spanned more than three decades.
He was the 1978 MVP, made the Mythical First Team six times, was twice in the Mythical Second Team, was a two-time member of the All-Defensive Team, a four-time All-Star, a PBA Hall of Famer and member of the 50 Greatest Players.
The 'Big J' was the oldest player ever to play in the PBA and remains as the all-time leader in assists - 27 years since he retired from playing.
Hawkins said Jaworski and Fernandez are his choices.
“Tingin ko toss-up pa rin kay coach Sonny tsaka kay Mon Fernandez kahit na Crispanatic ako nung bata pa,” said the 57-year-old Hawkins, a teammate of Cariaso at Alaska where they won a grand slam in 1996.
Hawkins said both Jaworski and Fernandez, who were teammates at Toyota, will inevitably be mentioned in GOAT conversations.
“Lalo na si Mon kahit saan mapunta, kayang-kaya niyang dalhin yung team sa finals,” added the son of the late character actor Rene Hawkins Sr.
“Hindi lang yun. Pati stats, grabe.”
Referred to as ‘El Presidente,’ Fernandez, 71, is the winningest player in PBA history with a total of 19 championships won playing for renowned franchise Toyota, Tanduay, and San Miguel.
He was the first player to win the MVP four times, was a 13-time Mythical First Team member, thrice was a Mythical Second Team selection, was a two-time scoring champion and to this day remains as the PBA’s all-time scoring leader.
Fernandez, a former commissioner at the PSC, is also the league’s No. 1 in total rebounds, defensive rebounds, and all-time minutes played, while ranked second in all-time most steals, assists, and most games played.
The 6-foot-4 native of Maasin, Leyte, fell short of winning a grand slam with Toyota in the league’s inaugural season in 1975 and Tanduay in 1986, but finally achieved the rare feat in 1989 with the San Miguel Beermen.
Another PBA 50 Greatest Players member, Benjie Paras, and former Ginebra star Vince Hizon both had Jaworski on top of their list, not merely for what he achieved on the court, but for his compassion with fellow players.
Paras, the only Rookie-MVP winner in PBA history, also mentioned Fernandez as one of his choices, but recalled how the Big J came to his aid at the time he wanted out of Formula Shell and hoping to play for Ginebra back in 1993.
“Yung time na gusto kong maglaro sa Ginebra, lagi akong nasa bahay nila,” said the 56-year-old former player and now full-time actor.
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Holding out at Shell, Paras naturally wasn’t given his salary by the team.
“Si Jaworski ang nagbibigay sa akin ng salary (allowance) nung time na yun,” he remembered.
Nothing came out of his decision to bolt the Shell camp as the franchise held on to his signing rights. Eventually, Paras signed a new contract with the Turbo Chargers and personally talked to Jaworski about his situation.
“Pagka-suweldo ko, yung mga nakuha ko, binalik ko rin naman,” he said. “Pero that time, talagang inalagaan niya ako.”
Unlike Paras, the 54-year-old Hizon got to play alongside his playing-coach at Ginebra and won a championship with him.
That four-year tenure gave the shooting guard the opportunity to know the real person in the Big J.
“I can say its Jaworski, the (PBA) logo. Not just because of how he played, his longevity. But for me, he was like a father figure. I mean he really took us all under his wings,” said Hizon, who came to Ginebra via a trade with Purefoods for the late Nonoy Chuatico.
The former Ateneo star recalled how Jaworski invited him over to dinner one time.
“So I think it was going to be a dinner with our family. But when I got to the place, it was only him and me,” said Hizon. “And he’s asking me questions, ‘How’s you family?,’ ‘How’s everything?’ How’s your finances?,’ ‘How are you spending your money?.’
“And then he starts asking ‘What do you think we should do with the team?’ How can we improve in other words.”
'This is the logo'
That meeting alone left Hizon impressed.
“I’m thinking to myself, ‘This is the logo.’ This is a guy who got everything and he’s talking the time to take me individually, spent his time wherein he can do something else,” he said.
Hizon later found out, Jaworski did the same thing with every Ginebra player.
“He really takes the time to get to know each and everyone of the players. He took the time to do that for us,” he added.
“So it’s just natural for us that if he asks anything, ‘Let’s go, we’re gonna go to work,’ [it's] 'Anything you say, coach.'”
The four retired players gavetheir respective takes on the GOAT debate during the ‘Basketbol Baliktanaw’ event at the Ortigas Library Foundation in Greenhills.
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