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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Ginebra title worth the wait for Abarrientos

Ginebra title worth the wait for Abarrientos

Published Jun 20, 2026 12:32 pm  |  Updated Jun 20, 2026 01:36 pm

At A Glance

  • But now that he can finally call himself a champion after Ginebra won the PBA Season 50 Commissioner's crown in its 88-76 win over TNT in Game 7, there is no stopping the 5-foot-11 playmaker from celebrating his breakout season.

RJ Abarrientos refused to celebrate even after winning the Best Player of the Conference award, stressing that the goal is to win the championship after failing in his two tries.

But now that he can finally call himself a champion after Ginebra won the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s crown in its 88-76 win over TNT in Game 7, there is no stopping the 5-foot-11 playmaker from celebrating his breakout season.

“Ito iyon. Ito yung goal,” declared Abarrientos moments after the awarding ceremony at the Mall of Asia Arena last Wednesday, June 17.

“Kahit sino sa amin makakuha ng individual. Kahit pa hindi sa amin basta champion ang pinag uusapan, lahat kami, lahat kami nakakuha ng award. ‘Yun yung pinaka hihintay namin dito,” he added. 

True enough, it was indeed a long wait for Abarrientos and the Kings after losing to the Tropang 5G in the Commissioner’s Cup and Governors Cup last season. In both occasions, TNT exploited and took advantage of Abarrientos on the defensive end — something no longer happened in the seven-game series.

In fact, Abarrientos was drawing fouls and completing steals in a display of a much-improved defense.

“I felt RJ was really coming into his own at that point,” Cone said of Abarrientos’ breakout conference.

“He was really starting to understand things and what we wanted from him. And he was really, really improving his defense, which was really crucial,” added the veteran coach.

For Abarrientos, just like everyone else at Ginebra, it felt like the title was a long time coming and that just made it sweeter — other than it being his first, of course.

“Ibs ‘to kasi sabi ko nga ups and downs ang dami naming pinagdaanan hindi lang more on laging panalo. Alam din ng ginebra fans and yung pag talo nagagalit sila,” said Abarrientos.

“Pero yun yung pinaka thankful namin na yung ginebra fans laging nandyan para sa amin nakikita namin yung suporta nila, sa pag iintay ng sobrang tagal, ng three years,” he added.

Related Tags

RJ Abarrientos Ginebra Gin Kings PBA PBA Finals PBA Commissioner\'s Cup
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