Padrigao has ‘no regrets’ in skipping NBA camp for UAAP semis

MANILA, Philippines – Over in Chicago, former Ateneo high school star Kai Sotto is having the time of his life at the Basketball Without Borders Global Camp during the 2020 NBA All-Star Weekend.

From spending time with first-time All-Star Pascal Siakam to hanging out with special correspondent Pia Wurtzbach, the 7-foot-2 wunderkind is having yet another experience to remember in his young basketball career.

However, Sotto was supposed to be just one of two young Filipino stars having a blast in the prestigious, 63-man field.

The other was his former Ateneo Blue Eaglets teammate Forthsky Padrigao, who opted to skip the camp in order to play in the UAAP Season 82 stepladder semifinals.

It was a gamble that unfortunately did not pay off for the two-way guard.

Ateneo squandered a 14-point lead in the knockout match against the Adamson Baby Falcons last Wednesday, February 12, and ultimately got eliminated at the hands of rookie MVP Jake Figueroa and streaky scorer John Erolon.

Despite going all-in on one event and coming up empty-handed, Padrigao nevertheless took the beating with a positive mindset.

“We got inconsistent. We had a strong start but we relaxed,” Padrigao said after absorbing a stunning 75-84 defeat to Adamson in the last boys’ basketball game before the league-wide, novel coronavirus-related suspension.

“But at the end of the day, I have no regrets because we still gave it our all.”

The 2018 BWB Asia camp MVP stressed that situations such as this was all a part of life.

“Definitely no regrets. Kasi ‘di porke’t sinacrifice ko ‘yung isang bagay, magiging successful ako dito sa isa,” he continued.

(Definitely no regrets. Just because I sacrificed one thing, doesn’t mean I’d be successful in the other.)

“That’s why in life, we take risks. In that risk, if we succeed, then good. If we didn’t, then we learn from that.”

Padrigao went down swinging in the season-ending loss with a team-high 22 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds.

In his first season as the undoubted leader of the Eaglets, he finished with averages of 17.2 markers, 4.1 boards, 4.1 dimes, and a league-best 3.7 steals. – Rappler.com