Allen Durham was among the people inside a busy sixth floor of the Upper Deck Sports Center in Pasig City Saturday morning, once again wearing the practice jersey of the Meralco Bolts for their tune-up game against the Phoenix Fuel Masters.
A few feet away from where Durham and the Bolts played with the Fuel Masters was another basketball court where Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, the team that beat them for last year’s PBA Governors’ Cup title, was holding a practice session.
Whether he’ll admit it or not, Durham surely remembers the outcome of their title series last year.
It was he who tried but failed to challenge Justin Brownlee’s buzzer-beating bank shot from the top of the three-point arc that ended Ginebra’s eight-year title drought.
Last year’s Best Import was even forced to stay on the court to accept an award of sorts from a sponsor as Ginebra celebrated that memorable October win.
Nine months later, Durham is back for another shot at redemption. However, the 6-foot-4 Michigan native would rather think of the future than dwell on past heartbreak.
“All the teams in the PBA are all great teams, if we were just focusing on Ginebra, you know, somebody else could beat us,” Durham said after the Bolts’ 92-86 loss to the Fuel Masters in the tune-up match, their first ahead of the Governors’ Cup which opens July 19.
