By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Filipino basketball legend Jimmy Alapag will be on the sidelines of the Sacramento Kings when the next NBA season kicks off this October 24, 2023.
After spending the past few years in the NBA Summer League and the G League, the former TNT Tropang Giga superstar will finally enter the spotlight of the big boys’ league when he was tapped by the Sacramento Kings to become their player development coach.
Alapag confirmed his latest international coaching development last August 4, 2023, via a lengthy message posted on his official Facebook account.
“Proud to announce I’ll be joining coach Mike Brown and his staff as Player Development Coach for the upcoming NBA season. Incredibly blessed and thankful for this opportunity,” posted Alapag.
Three years ago, Alapag already left the Philippines to explore more coaching options in the US amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
His patience and perseverance then quickly paid off as he was tasked to be an assistant coach of the Stockton Kings, Sacramento’s development team competing in the NBA G League.
Alapag’s continuous dedication to his craft then landed him a spot as a part of the Sacramento Kings’ coaching staff in the NBA Summer League.
The former Gilas Pilipinas team captain brought his winning mentality to the 2021 Summer League roster when they took down the heavily-favored Boston Celtics team in the grand finals.’
Since signing a contract with the Sacramento franchise, Alapag already settled in the US and never came back to the PHL where he last served multiple coaching duties with several teams.
Alapag will now be with Sacramento as their off-season training camp for another NBA campaign will be starting in a couple of weeks.
Despite losing in the first round of the NBA Playoffs as a higher seed than the Golden State Warriors, the Kings still finished their season on a high note after ending their 16-year post-season drought.
In retrospect, it was still the roster headed by Mike Bibby, Peja Stojakovic, Metta World Peace, and Bonzi Wells that last gave the Sacramento franchise a trip to the post-season.
After the 2005-2006 NBA season, the Kings became one of the worst teams in the league when they failed to secure a single playoff spot until now.
What’s also the most impressive thing about Sacramento’s achievement this season is breaking their slump as the team who had the longest active playoff drought in the major sports leagues of the US.
