‘Honored’ Alapag deflects credit for PBA milestone

Jimmy Alapag FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Jimmy Alapag set up a cutting Harvey Carey for the basket at the 6:37 mark of the first quarter, and the rest was history.

Alapag became just the ninth player in league history to hit 3,000 assists — joining an elite company headed by legends Robert Jaworski, Philip Cezar and Ramon Fernandez.

“It’s an honor. Basketball has been a big part of my life for so long and having played 11 years and to be fortunate enough to be around that long and join a company like that it means a lot,” said a humbled Alapag, who turns 36 this month.

“It’s something that I’ll look back on when I’m done playing and be proud of.”

The five-foot-nine guard Alapag, a former MVP, then recalled the dish that gave him the milestone.

“It’s funny because I think a lot of my assists for the last 11 years have been to Harvey Carey and it’s kind of fate that my first assist of the game was to him,” he said before breaking a smile.

“He (Harvey) is where he always is cutting down the middle, he made a big cut and I was able to find him. He got another assist from me and probably he got half of my 3,000. It’s special,” added the National team mainstay Alapag, who matched his career average with six assists to lead Talk ‘N Text’s rout of GlobalPort Tuesday.

The night also marked Alapag’s 500th game, just the 65th player to at least have logged that many, according to league’s head statistician Fidel Mangonon.

“You know when you start your career you don’t really think about stuff like that. You just try to work as hard as you can everyday, each season just try to play your best and hopefully as years go by you reach a milestone. I think 3,000 assists just shows I’ve had the opportunity to play with a lot of great players throughout my career. And it’s really a credit to them that they make great shots when I give them the ball.”