ANGELES CITY - Vic Manuel vows to keep jersey No. 24 for the rest of his PBA career in honor of the late NBA great Kobe Bryant.
His resolve to wear the same number carried by his basketball idol was validated even more after the Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA title on Monday against the Miami Heat, nine months following the tragic death of the cage great in a helicopter crash.
Manuel ditched his previous jersey No. 87 for 24 starting this season. He already wore Bryant's signature number during Alaska's 100-95 loss to TnT Tropang Giga in the bubble opener of the Philippine Cup.
"Tuluy-tuloy na ito. Hindi ko na papalitan hanggang sa mag-retire," said the Alaska forward.
While Manuel definitely would like to end up retiring at Alaska, the 33-year-old native of Licab, Nueva Ecija will still carry the same jersey number even in the event he ends up with another team.
But that depends if another player already owns the same jersey number.
"Kung malipat ng team tapos meron ng may-ari noon, gagamitin ko na lang 42," he said.
Right now, he's one of millions of Lakers fans who's just proud of the successful title run by Lebron James and the Lakers in honor of Bryant.
"Siyempre masaya ako. Lakers fan ako, e," said Manuel.
"For Kobe, champion kami."
___
Spin fans unite at the Spin Viber Community! Join the growing community now and complete the experience by subscribing to the Spin Chatbot.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
