2 weeks Ago By Rappler.com
MANILA, Philippines – PBA legend Robert Jaworski Sr. will add one more feather in his cap. Arguably the most popular player in league history, Jaworski will be given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PBA Press Corps when it holds its 30th Annual Awards Night at the Novotel Manila in Quezon City on September 24.
Jaworski is just the second personality to receive the award from the men and women who regularly cover Asia’s pioneering league five years after the PBA Press Corps made Alaska team owner Fred Uytengsu the first recipient. Now 78 years old, Jaworski stands as the only PBA player to suit up in a game at the age of 50 and saw action for a total of 23 seasons — a league record he shares only with Asi Taulava. Jaworski, the 1978 MVP, captured 13 championships, winning nine with Toyota as a player, three with Barangay Ginebra as a playing coach, and another one with Gordon’s Gin as a coach.
He is the first-ever playing coach to win a PBA title as he became the face of the Gin Kings’ never-say-die brand, helping turn Ginebra into the most popular basketball team in the country. A strong-willed guard who did everything on the floor, Jaworski ended his career with a PBA record 5,825 assists — a mark that still stands almost three decades since he last played in 1997. His other accolades include six Mythical First Team, two Mythical Second Team, and two All-Defensive Team selections.
A longtime national team member who represented the country in the 1968 Olympics and 1974 FIBA World Championship, the “Big J” guided the Filipinos to a silver medal in the 1990 Asian Games as the head coach. Honored as a member of the original 25 Greatest Players in league history in 2000, Jaworski got inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural batch in 2005. Ginebra retired Jaworski’s No.
7 jersey in 2012. – Rappler.com.
