By REYNALD MAGALLON
Naturalized Filipino and former Gilas Pilipinas center Andray Blatche is already mulling retirement and his stint with the Strong Group Athletics in the Dubai International tournament could be his farewell tour.
At 38 years old, the NBA veteran is eyeing a fitting swan song to his decorated career as he is expected to join hands with fellow former NBA star Demarcus Cousins when SGA, under head coach Charles Tiu, guns for redemption after a bridesmaid finish last year.
“At this age, it’s almost over. At this point, it’s probably my last show actually,” said Blatche, who was at the PBA sidelines during the game between Converge, where Tiu was an assistant coach, and TNT.
“I’m getting to the age where it’s almost over. At this point, this might be my last show this year actually, I think this tournament might be my last tournament. Of course, we want to go out with a bang, go out there and win the championship,” he added.
Blatche played for nine years in the NBA before he made his way to playing across Asia after he became a naturalized Filipino and reinforced Gilas to the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain.
He spent time in the Chinese Basketball Association where he won a title in 2017 while also juggling with his national team duties which lasted until the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
He was part of the SGA team last year where he joined hands with Dwight Howard and local stars Jordan Heading and Kevin Quiambao, but the team still fell short of the title after losing to Al Riyadi in a buzzer-beating trey.
Now with Cousins, Blatche is just excited about what’s in store for SGA especially with Dave Ildefonso and Rhenz Abando returning for another tour of duty for the PH club.
“We’re getting ready for the Dubai tournament. I’m loving it, and there’s some guys from last year,” Blatche said of his team.
“Me and him played a lot together back when we were younger, high school. I feel like this is going to be tough for teams to cover definitely because we both can shoot, both can handle the ball, and make smart passes,” he added as he looks forward to sharing the court with Cousins.
