THE misery of losing years of basketball action to injury is slowly turning into joy and relief for Joshua David.
Part of the Taft stable since 2019, the 6-foot guard skipped a pandemic-halted Season 82 before suffering a devastating ACL tear in an exhibition game days before his supposed rookie debut in Season 84.
And in his first taste of UAAP action since the ill-timed injury, David is starting to see the stars align - with a little help from his senior Archer and newest coach.
READ: La Salle vents ire on hapless UST with 20-point rout
David had two scoreless outings against FEU and Ateneo to start the new season with roughly ten minutes of play under his belt.
Come La Salle's third game, however, the returning Archer came to life with a team-high 14 markers on 62.5% shooting in 17 minutes to lead a lopsided romp over also-ran UST.
La Salle coach Topex Robinson gave further insight into David's breakout game which took flight even farther with a huge assist from Evan Nelle.
"I wasn’t the one who gave Josh (David) that extra minute. It was Evan (Nelle)," Robinson revealed.
"With five minutes left, Evan was already about to sub in. Then when Josh made that first jumper, he told me, ‘Coach, I think Josh will stay in the game. He needs the opportunity and he’s playing well,’ so (Evan) went back (to the bench)," he added.
The new Green Archers tactician gave Nelle, one of the team's leaders, his flowers for such a selfless.
"I really just wanna honor that because that’s Evan Nelle for you. You might see him getting pissed off, forcing passes, but just for you to offer that position to your teammate who’s playing well is really something that defines his character as a leader and hopefully will define us also as a team," Robinson said.
Ultimately, David had nothing but gratitude for the golden opportunity to revive his career with La Salle.
"Sobrang big deal nu’ng binigyan ako ng chance ni Coach Topex na makabalik at makalaro. Sobrang thankful lang din ako na nakabalik na ko, naglalaro na ko, at nakakatulong na ko sa teammates ko (after the ACL injury)," David said.
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