THE MAJOR crossover has finally happened.
Retired professional players of the PBA Motoclub faced the YouTube stars of Mav's Phenomenal on Saturday at the San Juan FilOil Arena.
The pros leaned on their deep experience, defeating the young Mav's, 82-75, to win the P300,000 cash prize.
The PBA Motoclub — including Marc Pingris, Rico Maierhofer, JJ Helterbrand, KG Canaleta, Sol Mercado, Doug Kramer, and Ronald Tubid — donated the money to the patients of National Children’s Hospital.
The FilOil EcoOil Centre, with the capacity of 6,000 seats, was definitely at full house at the time, even if the game started late.
With the arena filled to capacity and filled with laughter, and fans seeing their social media and television idols in person, it was a show to remember.
"Basta nakakatuwa. Anuman ang resulta ng laro, ang importante dito ay nakatulong kami, at marami pa kaming napasaya,” Pingris told SPIN.ph. ”Ito na 'yung life after PBA.”
How to the PBA Motoclub vs. Mavs Phenomenal match came about
In the middle of a casual conversation during one of the motorcycle club's out-of-town expeditions last month, Pingris, Maierhofer, and Helbterbrand came across a netizen comment suggesting a collab with the online famous Mavs Phenomenal Basketball.
From there, Pingris made a very casual invite: "Sa Mavs, PM niyo kami, laro tayo."
To their surprise, the camp reached out to them via private message.
"Hindi nga namin gaano kakilala yung Mavs, naririnig-rinig lang, pero sabi namin, sige subukan natin, tapos, ayun, pumayag sila," recalled Pingris.
The rest is showmatch history.
"Laking pasasalamat talaga namin sa Mavs Phenomenal, kay coach Mavrick Bautista, malaking bagay ito, ang totoo niyan, hindi pa ito ang huli."
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