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THE Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) celebrates its 50th year anniversary on April 9 next year—a date so appropriate for Asia’s first professional basketball league to have been born on an important day in the country’s history, Araw ng Kagitingan.
THE Philippine Basketball Association celebrates its 50th year anniversary on April 9 next year—a date so appropriate for Asia’s first professional basketball league to have been born on an important day in the country’s history, Araw ng Kagitingan.
No less than Willie Marcial, the league’s commissioner since 2018, would want each and every player who dribbled and shot the ball in the PBA to be there on that special day. “The players are all part of the PBA, we are praying and hoping that they become part of the celebration,” Marcial told BusinessMirror on Thursday. “We’ll find ways to invite them because all of them are very important for the upcoming 50th anniversary.” And that includes Gregorio “Joy” Dionisio, the first player to shoot a basket in the PBA on April 9, 1975, for Concepcion Carrier which lost the inaugural game to Mariwasa-Noritake, 101-98, before 18,000 fans at the Araneta Coliseum. Dionisio is the so-called original “Angas ng Tondo,” having honed his tough-and-rough stuff in an Adamson University Falcons jersey before moving on to the semi-professional leagues and eventually to the PBA in the 1970s. His brand of hoops didn’t escape “The Maestro,” and soon enough, he wore the fabled Crispa Redmanizers jersey.“Nobody expected him to score the pro league’s first ever goal because he was more of a point guard or a playmaker,” legendary Crispa hotshot Fortunato “Atoy” Co told BusinessMirror on Thursday. “He was never expect to shoot, but to create a situations for his teammates to score.” Ramon Fernandez, a four-time PBA MVP called the “El Presidente” and he with his trademark “Elegant Shot,” agreed with Co. “Dionisio was more of a quality playmaker…or defensive guard,” said Fernandez, who had a stint as commissioner of the Philippine Sports Commission. Co, himself a former MVP, and Fernandez also agree with Marcial that everyone who played in the league should be part of the golden celebration—special mention to Dionisio.Fernandez would want to add some twist though. “Yes, of course Dionisio,” he said. “Not only Dionisio, but also those who made the first free throws and then, the three-point shot.” But Co—who’s 73 and like the 71-year-old Fernandez, still packs the vitality rarely seen in their age group—said it could take some effort to look for Dionisio. “I believe he’s just around somewhere here in Metro Manila,” said Co, adding Dionisio has made himself scarce even to his teammates and fellow former PBA players for decades now.“I’m sure they know how to get in touch ,” he said. Former PBA players have become active in social media recalling their exploits but rarely, if not at all, did Dionisio cropped up in any of the vloggers’ episodes.“We’ll find a connection, how to invite him because all PBA players, past and present, are very important to us,” Marcial said. “They are forever part of the PBA.”
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