MATTHEW Wright got his Southeast Asian Games gold in Thailand after being on the losing end three years ago in Hanoi.
Wright was part of the Gilas Pilipinas team that only captured a silver in 2022 when they were defeated by Indonesia in the championship game, one of the most disappointing losses in Philippine basketball history.
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Another member of that Hanoi SEA Games team was Thirdy Ravena, who was also able to pocket his own gold medal
“I came into this tournament trying to avenge that loss,” said Wright. “We had two weeks to prepare. Thailand did everything possible to make it difficult for us to have a team. But that made us band together more and come out with the gold.”
Wright revealed that playing in the SEA Games has been in the works since September, only to practice weeks before the competition.
“Anytime the country calls me, I’m going to play no matter what, no matter what tournament it is so I’m just happy that Coach Norman chose me,” Wright said.
“We’ve been talking about this since September, so we’ve been planning this since September and we’ve only been able to practice this December so that was crazy but you know we won,” he added.
Wright had the chance to play for the SEA Games after he decided not to play in the Japan B.League for the 2025-26 season. Without the benefit of official games, the 34-year-old Wright said he felt the rust during the first few games of the tournament.
“Guys like Thirdy and I, we haven’t played basketball for like seven, eight months and then only having two weeks preparation, that was tough on us. It took me awhile to get my legs into this tournament," he said.
“But I was able to find it in the (Vietnam) game and then I was able to carry it on,” he added.
“We only have one full practice with our roster. One. In two weeks. Because everyone was with their teams so this one is really sweet.”
Wright won his second SEA Games gold medal of his career as he was part of the 2019 squad coached by Tim Cone which won at home in Manila.
But Wright said the Bangkok SEA Games takes the cake.
“This one was definitely the best one. All the other SEA Games I’ve been a part of other than the last one (in Hanoi), we’ve been blowing out teams. The rest of Southeast Asia is getting better, that’s for sure. But we are still the best."
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