The return of Gary David, the Gilas ‘joker’

Gary David dribbles the ball during Gilas Pilipinas practice. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Gary David is already moonlighting as comedian on his free time, and with the Gilas Pilipinas squad back, he is also returning as the team’s designated jester.

After a hard day’s practice on Friday, David finally brought back the customary post-practice comedy sketch and drew hearty laughs from the whole team, including naturalized player Andray Blatche.

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“Si Andray makulit eh. Namiss nya yung mga joke ko kaya nire-request nya lagi. Pinagbibigyan naman natin at tinatranslate na lang sa English,” he said.

(Andray is very joyous. He missed my jokes and he keeps on requesting for it. We oblige and translate the jokes in English.)

Ranging from casual Filipino jokes to naughty spiels that aren’t suited for publishing, David has definitely earned the role of the Gilas joker.

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But the Meralco guard said that he doesn’t really plan on making it a habit as he doesn’t want to be a distraction for the team.

“Depende sa mood. Sinusubukan nila ako pero lagi naman akong may baon,” he said, saying that it’s really easy to make his favorite customer laugh.

(It depends on the mood. They always try me but I’m always ready for it.)

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“Mababaw lang yan. Konting patawa lang dyan ni Bong (Tulabot), masayang masaya na si Andray,” he said.

(He is very shallow. Just a little joke by Bong Tulabot and he’s already laughing hard.)

David, though, sees his “joke times” as ice-breaker amid the intense practices ran by national team head coach Tab Baldwin.

“Minsan kasama yun. Di puro laging seryoso. Syempre kailangan din ng pantanggal ng stress. Masayahin ang mga Pinoy eh,” he said, noting that it’s innate in Filipinos to find ways to laugh.

(Sometimes, it’s a part of the practice. We can’t always be serious. We need a bit of a stress reliever. The Filipinos are happy people.)

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And that mentality has definitely rubbed off on Blatche.

“Namiss nya yung jokes. Unang araw nya, tinatanong na nya agad kung may joke na ako. Lagi sya nagre-request,” David said, while admitting that teammates Ranidel de Ocampo and Jayson Castro also have a big role in his post-game production. “Bago ko i-relate, kay Ranidel at Jayson muna. Pag napatawa ko si Jayson, talagang nakakatawa. Tinutulungan ako ni Ranidel i-translate sa English yung jokes.”

(He missed the jokes. In his first day, he was already asking if I have a joke. He’s always requesting for it. Before I relay the jokes, I tell it to Ranidel and Jayson first. If Jayson laughs, it must be really funny. Ranidel helps me translate the jokes to English.) CFC