Blackwater tactician Nash Racela admitted that he “lost interest” in the PBA to the point that he stopped watching games after TNT sacked him from his post as head coach.

Racela called the shots for TNT for two years and guided the franchise to 1 finals and 4 playoffs appearances before he got sacked in September 2018.

“I would not deny that after I got kicked out of Talk ‘N Text, in a way I lost interest in the PBA,” Racela said after Blackwater toppled NLEX for its second win in the Philippine Cup.

“I was not watching the game for at least a year. Even though my [brother] Olsen is in Ginebra, I was not really watching the games.”

It took time for Racela to rediscover his fire for PBA basketball, and after more than a year since his TNT exit, he found himself back in the league as the head coach for Blackwater.

Under his tutelage, Blackwater is off to an impressive 2-1 start as the team already matched the number of games it won in the previous conference.

Blackwater landed at the basement in the Governors’ Cup last year after finishing with a dismal 2-9 record.

While his arrival at Blackwater has yielded positive results so far, Racela said his coaching staff and his players have helped ease his transition back to coaching in the PBA.

“I’m not the only one who decides, it is a collective decision,” Racela said. “That is how I build a culture in a team – the contributions and the decision are collective.” – Rappler.com