PBA: Jayson Castro enters 10,000-point club in TNT's QF win over NLEX

MANILA, May 15 ------ PBA veteran Jayson Castro added another accolade to his already illustrious career. The 39-year-old officially joined the league's 10,000 career points club in the TNT Tropang 5G's 96-93 win over the NLEX Road Warriors in the quarterfinals at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Castro entered the elite club in the 3:25 mark of the third quarter, when he drained the first of two free throws, finishing with 14 points and three assists. According to PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III, the seasoned playmaker is the 18th player overall with at least 10,000 points. Castro is the third oldest player to reach the milestone at 39 years old, after Robert Jaworski who was 43 years old when he did it in 1989 and Arwind Santos who was 41 years old when he achieved it in 2022. "Kahit ako, hindi ko na ma-imagine eh... So, masaya kasi yun nga, nung nakita ko 'yung kung sino lang 'yung mga nandun parang and then, napasama ako doon. Parang, bigla ako naging proud sa sarili ko," Castro told reporters. "At the same time, siguro dahil talagang inalagaan ko 'yung sarili ko para ma-achieve 'yung goal na y'un. And, at the same time, makatulong din sa mga teammate ko," he added.

The 10-time PBA champion said he was not thinking about the milestone, instead he was focused on scoring to help TNT force a do-or-die in their playoff series against NLEX. "Sobrang focused ko sa game. Actually, never akong inisip 'yung points eh. For me, ma-set up 'yung mga teammate ko, maka-contribute sa defense, and kung paano sila magiging mga wide open shot. 'Yun 'yung main goal ko," he said.

Castro considers all his achievements special but this milestone hits different, since the Commissioner's Cup marked his return after recovering from a right knee injury. "Sobrang special ito. Kasi di ba, parang hindi ko rin may imagine na makaka-pag-perform pa ako ng ganito. Makaka-minutes pa rin, despite na 'yun nangyari sa akin," he shared.

For the 39-year-old playmaker, he sees the recent injury as an eye-opener for him to better take care of his body. "Yung injury na 'yun, parang na-realize ko na kailangan ko maalagaan pa 'yung katawan ko para gusto ko pang manalo ng championship. 'Yun naman 'yung ultimate goal eh," Castro said. "So, isa rin 'yung way din 'yun para 'yun nga, magpalakas. Kasi 'yung mga past, before nung injury, dami ko naramdaman ng mga maliliit na injury nang binabalewala ako. So, this time, event season, 'yung katawan ko, inalagaan ko talaga. And, para ma-achieve 'tong ganitong milestone sa basketball career ko," he added.

When asked if he's eyeing to reach the 15,000-point milestone, Castro said he remains focused on helping TNT win more championships. "Kuntento ako kung ano 'yung mga nararating ko. Siguro, mas focus ko to help the team win, at the same time, manalo ng championship. Kahit mga malilit na lang 'yung role ko dito, parang 'yun 'yung gusto kong ma-feel again," he shared.

TNT head coach Chot Reyes was all praises for Castro for his latest achievement in their crucial win. "Well, I think that's a recognition that's long coming. I'm very proud of his journey. Kasi kung maalala niyo, we made a really big, huge, risky move when we traded just to be able to draft Jason. We traded a guy by the name of Jay Washington," he said during the post-game press conference. "When I got to Talk 'N Text, basically he was our best player, our best individual player. But we made that move to be able to draft, to be in a position to draft Jayson Castro. And who would have known that he would be in that elite club of 10,000 point players?" Reyes added.

For the champion mentor, Castro proved himself winning 10 PBA titles, five PBA Best Player of the Conference honors and three PBA Finals Most Valuable Player plums to name a few. "So more than the award, really what I'm proud of is his journey from that young guy who was starting off with us all the way to his evolution to now. No kidding," Reyes said. Castro and the Tropang 5G will clash with NLEX anew on Saturday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com