By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
After getting his number called at the 7:11 mark of the fourth quarter, veteran superstar center Asi Taulava added another PBA career milestone after tying Robert Jaworski’s record for most seasons played in the league.
Taulava’s late game substitution for the NLEX Road Warriors made his 23rd PBA season official in their game against the NorthPort Batang Pier on November 9, 2022.
Despite the 107-94 loss to the Batang Pier, Taulava was happy helping his team after he was tasked to fill in for the injured JR Quiñahan and Tony Semerad for the rest of the conference.
Taulava played for five minutes and manned the Road Warriors’ interior defense against Prince Ibeh and the tall NorthPort frontcourt.
The six-foot-nine center only had one attempt from the field, a missed three-point shot that would have been his first points of the season.
Taulava last saw action wearing the NLEX uniform on December 2021 when the Road Warriors decimated the Terrafirma Dyip, 116-86.
“When I heard my name, it took me like three times, ‘Huh? Me?.’ So I have to ask coach. I thought he was calling somebody else when I heard my name,” Taulava said after the game.
Several months ago heading into the Commissioner’s Cup, rumors already spread that Taulava might be calling it a career in the PBA but NLEX made a last-minute move to activate him due to their injured frontcourt.
The towering center was a former PBA champion way back in 2003 while also winning the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in the same season.
Taulava will go down as one of the most dominant centers to ever set foot in the PBA after clinching 17 PBA All-Star appearances, four Mythical first-team selections, and was a three-time PBA Defensive Player of the Year.
