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Kings surprise 'The Spark' with mini birthday celeb at Quest Hotel

Sports | Basketball

Kings surprise 'The Spark' with mini birthday celeb at Quest Hotel

By Carlo Anolin

Photos from respective Instagram accounts

Ginebra players showed some love to their most senior teammate by surprising him at his hotel room in Clark, Pampanga.

No less than Mark Caguioa, who just turned 41 inside the PBA bubble, was caught off guard by his teammates as they all sneakily lined up at the corridor of Quest Hotel in Mimosa.

LA Tenorio did the honors to present the birthday cake to Caguioa while Joe Devance, Scottie Thompson, Stanley Pringle, Aljon Mariano, Jeff Chan, among others, started chanting "Happy Birthday" while holding their cameras up to capture the light moment.

Before getting the cake, Caguioa took his turn to pull out his phone to record his fellow Kings sing loud in unison.

"Continue to inspire young players like !" Love you brother!" Tenorio wrote on Instagram.

Former Ginebra teammates Jayjay Helterbrand, Sol Mercardo, Paolo Taha and Rico Maierhofer also greeted the PBA veteran on Instagram, reminiscing some of their moments together.

Caguioa, the man known as "The Spark," is now on his 18th season in the PBA since being drafted by Ginebra as third overall pick in 2001.

He remained loyal to the Kings and became the longest-tenured player in a single franchise, surpassing Alvin Patrimonio (Purefoods) and Harvey Carey (TNT) in the process.

Before the surprise visit to Caguioa, Ginebra took its first win in the semifinals after routing the Meralco Bolts, 96-79, in Game 1 of the PBA Philippine Cup Wednesday night at the Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center.

Related Tags

LA Tenorio Scottie Thompson PBA bubble Mark Caguioa Quest Hotel Jayjay PBA Philippine Cup Barangay Ginebra San Miguel

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