Florencio; 70

Danny Florencio, one of the country’s most lethal scorers and a pioneer of the Philippine Basketball Association, passed away in San Francisco, California, on Saturday (Sunday in Manila), after suffering a stroke. He was 70.

“No farewell words were spoken, no time to say goodbye,” wrote ex-Ginebra San Miguel coach Rino Salazar on his Facebook page—a tribute to the original “Skywalker” of the PBA.

As a King Goldie of University of Santo Tomas, Florencio had many memorable duels with Robert Jaworski, who played for University of the East that shared the UAAP title with UST in 1966.

Florencio, standing
5-foot-10, played in a number of international events for Team Philippines, including the 1972 Munich Olympics.
In the PBA, he became the first local player to score more than 60 points after tossing in 64 in 7-Up’s 121-136 loss to Toyota in 1977. Allan Caidic broke that record in 1991 with 79 points.