Brothers for life: Blakely swaps jerseys with Grand Slam teammates

Brothers for life. James Yap and Marqus Blakely swap jerseys ahead of the Rain or Shine-Blackwater game. Photo from James Yap Instragam

MANILA, Philippines—Marqus Blakely has played for a handful of teams throughout his professional basketball career that has taken him to countries like Germany, South Korea and Japan.

But among the squads Blakely had been a part of, it’s Purefoods that holds a special place in him.

The 31-year-old forward may be with a different PBA team in Blackwater but his bond with his former Purefoods teammates remains as strong as ever.

“That Grand Slam, we built a lot of chemistry and a lot of camaraderie between both of us. Me and Ping, me and James. We all have different relationships but we’re all brothers when it all comes down,” said Blakely, who helped Purefoods complete a Grand Slam in the 2014 Governors’ Cup.

“That’s just how we are, whether we’re on different teams or not. It’s still something that we respect. We can’t play this game forever. Having those types of memories, swapping jerseys, things like that. When you do retire knowing what that means to you, I think it’s a huge, huge part of why we do it.”

As a testament to it, Blakely has swapped jerseys with two of his former teammates in Marc Pingris, James Yap and PJ Simon.

Blakely exchanged jerseys with Pingris following Blackwater’s 95-89 win over Magnolia exactly a week ago before doing the same thing with Yap after the Elite’s loss to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters Wednesday night.

Blakely isn’t done with his jersey tour as he plans to add another ex-teammate in Joe Devance, who is now with Barangay Ginebra, on the list.

He said exchanging jerseys is also his way of paying homage to the memories and journey shared together on and off the court.

“If they’re willing to give it to me, I’ll give them one of mine. I know Blackwater might be a little mad with how many jerseys I’m giving away but it’s a memory thing, it’s a cherishable type of thing,” Blakely said. “Like I said, when you do retire, when it is on the wall in your living room or your house, you know what that meant or what it means to you.”

“It’s always an honor seeing these guys. Like I said, even though once we get out there it’s a war, off the floor we’re still brothers.”