Photo from Chot Reyes’ Instagram
MANILA, Philippines — Former Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes was honored to see the coat he wore during last month’s Fiba World Cup displayed at the museum of the Fiba House of Basketball in Switzerland.
Reyes, who stepped down from his head coaching post at Gilas after the World Cup, posted a picture with his Thom Brown suit at the Fiba headquarters recently.
“Thank you Fiba Secretary General Andreas Zagklis for the warm welcome to the House of Basketball. Was asked by FIBA Foundation’s Head Curator Miguel Font to donate some personal items I’ve been wearing through the qualifying windows from last year until the WC this year. What an honor to see my coat displayed at the FIBA Museum,” Reyes wrote on Instagram.
In a separate post, Reyes shared a video of him donating the suit to Fiba president Hamane Niang during the final day of the World Cup last September 10 at Mall of Asia Arena.
Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes during a game against Italy in the Fiba World Cup. -MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Niang expressed his gratitude to Reyes for his donation and thanked Manila for being a great host.
Reyes drew flak for wearing the luxury suit after Gilas didn’t make it to the second round of the World Cup, winning only their final game of the classification phase against China out of their four matches.
During his guesting in the Let It Fly podcast hosted by PBA stars Jared Dillinger, Gabe Norwood, Sol Mercado and Joe Devance, and radio DJ Tin Gamboa, a game Reyes read and responded to mean tweets about him and his suit.
“Like they always say, if you can’t perform, japorm. Pakialam mo sa suit ko,” said Reyes with a laugh. “I was surprised when the Fiba Foundation head curator called to ask if I could donate my sports jacket to the Fiba museum. So of course. We did the turnover during the final at Mall of Asia Arena.”
On a serious note, Reyes doesn’t get the issue with his fashion statement.
“I worked up to the ungodly hours in the morning and that’s my own money, it’s not anyone’s money. All my kids are all working already and I donate a lot to charity, I donate 10 times more than that amount to charity,” Reyes told the Let It Fly podcast. “I don’t gamble. Wala naman akong bisyo (I don’t have any vices). I think what I do with my own money which I didn’t steal I earned with my own blood, sweat, and tears that I really worked hard for. It’s up to me.”
Mercado and Norwood, who was a longtime member of the Gilas program, agreed with Reyes.
“You gotta make it out there (Switzerland) to see the suit again,” Norwood said.