Retiring Reid open for return next PBA season

Jane Bracher

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Retiring Reid open for return next PBA season
“It’s gonna be tough but I think I still have a little bit more left in the tank,” the two-time Best Import Arizona Reid said

MANILA, Philippines – Arizona Reid had previously bared that he planned to retire after winning his first PBA championship. He has arrived at that point, but he is not closing the door and locking away his basketball career just yet.

It was tough for him to say it out loud, and seemingly even consider it, but the 29-year old two-time Best Import is open to potentially coming back for the San Miguel Beermen next season.

“It’s gonna be tough but I think I still have a little bit more left in the tank,” he spoke but not after a deep sigh and careful thought. “I might come back. I’m not sure yet though.” 

Perhaps it was the smell of beer wafting in the air from the Beermen’s festive locker room – the hard-to-resist lure of experiencing the championship euphoria again that made him re-consider his retirement plan. But Reid once said he would come back if San Miguel Corp. execs asked him to.

“The only way is if two people talk to me,” he said last May. “If boss Robert [Non] or [Ramon Ang] tells me to come back, I would. You know why? I owe them. ‘Cause they gave me an opportunity of a lifetime. They changed my life and they don’t even know it.”

Right now, at least, head coach Leo Austria already expressed his intention to bring him back. 

“Well, we will have a chance to get him again so I told him that ‘next year, you will be back here and you’re always welcome,’” Austria said of the possibility of signing Reid as import again. 

“Since the start of the conference I knew that he would help us a lot and for us, he’s our Best Import,” he also said.

Reid shared his version of the conversation as well. 

“I talked to him before the game. He kind of threw it at me and said next year I’ll get Best Import and I just laughed it off.”

Reid was exemplary during San Miguel’s 4-game sweep of Alaska in the 2015 PBA Governors’ Cup which they completed on Friday, July 17. He normed 35.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.3 steals through the series.

In game 4 he finished with 33 points on 6 triples, to go along 6 boards, 4 assists and a block to power the Beermen. But as soon as the final buzzer sounded, as the balloons dropped from high up the Big Dome and the celebrations commenced, Reid forgot about all of it.

“I just want to have fun with my teammates, just let it all soak in,” he shared his thoughts and then his plans.

“I’m going home. I’m not even thinking about basketball right now. I’m going to chill with my family. Actually they’re coming here on the 23rd (of July) and we’ll just fly back together. We’re going to just chill and when it’s time to get back to work, if I decide to get back to work, we’ll get there.”

Once Reid returns home, he will have his children to take care of and his two businesses – a gas station and a nail salon – to attend to. Life, for him, doesn’t end with basketball. 

It took him 5 conferences and two teams to achieve his ultimate goal. And it’s understandably quite difficult to think too far ahead. This championship, San Miguel’s 21st, is all he has in mind – for now.

“It’s great, man. It just feels good. I feel like I beat the bully up,” he said, relief evident in his voice. “I finally got the monkey off of my back. A lot of people thought I couldn’t win a championship, and I proved them wrong.” – Rappler.com

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