Pogoy has reasons why third PBA title is most special

TNT Tropang Giga celebrate their second straight PBA Governors’ Cup championship over Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

RR Pogoy could only count his blessings after the experience of winning his latest PBA championship felt more satisfying than the previous ones. And this one will be most unforgettable.

“I feel like I’m on cloud nine,” Pogoy said after Friday’s 95-85 win allowed TNT to successfully defend the Governors’ Cup by again conquering Barangay Ginebra at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Pogoy’s third title in the PBA is most special because it came on the same day he and his wife, Love, celebrated their third wedding anniversary. He’s also set to become a father of two as the Pogoys are expecting a second baby.

When he won his first title in the 2021 Philippine Cup, health protocols caused by the COVID-19 pandemic forced Pogoy and the Tropang Giga to savor the win under a bubble setup and without fans in Bacolor, Pampanga.

When TNT won the Governors’ Cup in 2023, Pogoy could only celebrate from the sidelines after fracturing his finger when it got caught in the jersey of then-Ginebra star Christian Standhardinger in Game 3.

“I really wanted to win this championship here at Araneta because my first one was in a bubble and I was injured during our second run,” he said. “This is really special.”

There’s too much to be thankful for Pogoy, whose reaping what he’s sowed after a health scare forced him to miss the early portion of last season. He revealed in October 2023 that he was diagnosed with myocarditis, a rare heart condition, shortly after playing for Gilas Pilipinas in the Fiba World Cup.

He was initially told to sit out for six months, but was back on the hard court in January and called it a “miracle.”

Eleven months later, Pogoy was one of the keys to the Tropang Giga’s comeback from an 11-point second half deficit. He knocked down three triples in the fourth, the last one proving to be the dagger as it put the game out of reach with a 94-85 lead with less than a minute to go.

“I kept telling myself that if there’s an opportunity to go for a three-point shot, I’ll take it,” said Pogoy, who wound up with 13 points and was even considered for the PBA Press Corps Finals MVP that eventually went to veteran floor general Jayson Castro. INQ