By Ruel Mendoza
“You see, with my height, I usually end up as a forward whenever I play basketball.
“That’s fine with me, but it’s a very dangerous position to play.
“As a forward, you’re supposed to fight for rebounds and bang bodies with other players.
“You can get injured if you’re not careful.
“I can’t afford any serious injuries in my line of work, so I declined,” he says.
It’s his showbiz career that hindered Rayver’s chance of being a basketball star. But the actor never regretted not playing for one of the big teams in the country.
“I just don’t want to jeopardize my acting career.
“The network has big plans for me and I just could not sacrifice that.
“I will admit, I am more of an entertainer.
“I love to act, dance and sing. But my love for playing basketball will always be there. It’s one sport that you can’t take away from me,” he says.
In order to still play his sport, Rayver and his co-actors suit up for charity events here and abroad.
His teammates include fellow actors Gerald Anderson, Zanjoe Marudo, Enrique Gil, Xian Lim, Ejay Falcon, Matt Evans, Jason Abalos and his brother Rodjun Cruz.
“We are always invited to play for charity. We are happy to do it since it’s the only time we all get to compete in the same sport.
“It’s all for fun and helping out.
“Napapasaya pa namin ang mga fans. After each game, there’s a meet-and-greet with the fans. We love doing that for them.”
Rayver was last seen in the Kapamilya teleserye “Doble Kara”.