By REYNALD MAGALLON
When it’s all set and done, Arwind Santos wishes to see his No. 29 jersey alongside the other numbers of the famed San Miguel’s ‘Death Five’ members.
The jersey of the 42-year-old forward was the first to be retired among the members of the celebrated lineup that include seven-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo, Marcio Lassiter, Chris Ross and Alex Cabagnot.
Only three of them are still with SMB in Fajardo, Ross and Lassiter although the five had some sort of mini-reunion alongside their former head coach and now Beermen consultant Leo Austria during Santos’s jersey retirement ceremony.
The quintet formed one of the most dominant lineups the league has ever seen, collecting a total of eight championships from 2014 to 2019 – highlighted by its Philippine Cup five-peat including the historic ‘Beeracle Run’ when the team became the first team to come back from a 0-3 Finals deficit.
“Kung ako yung tatanungin mo dahil sa ganda ng pinagsamahan naminn gusto ko ring i-retire syempre yung Death Five na iyon,” said Santos who, while expressing his hopes for that to happen in the future, admitted that he was not in power to ask for it.
For one, the oldest league franchise has only given the recognition to a select few, having only seven jersey numbers retired by SMB up to this date including Santos.
The others were Allan Caidic, Yves Dignadice, Olsen Racela, Hector Calma, Ramon Fernandez and Samboy Lim.
More than the recognition though, Santos believes all the the achievements they achieved would be more than enough for the rest of the ‘Death Five’
“I think base sa pagkakakilala ko sa mga iyon sina Ross, sina Marcio, kina Alex, masaya na rin sila dahil sa moment na meron kami,” said Santos
“Hindi naman lahat pinapalad ng ganung moment na mapunta sa magandang team, maachieve yung mga championship, magkaron ng history kagaya ng Beeracle na naging part kami n’on, yun palang enough na iyon,” he added
