Philippine basketball legends are joining hands by coming up with collectible jerseys aimed at raising funds and helping their fallen comrades during the difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Get to own collectible replica jerseys of Toyota and San Miguel Beer’s Ramon Fernandez; Crispa’s Atoy Co, Philip Cezar and Bogs Adornado; SMB’s Allan Caidic and Samboy Lim; Purefoods’ Jerry Codinera and Alvin Patrimonio and Purefoods/Alaska’s Jojo Lastimosa.
The jerseys have a special box that can be signed by the former stars of the Philippine Basketball Basketball.
“We decided to come up with this project to help our former colleagues who are in need, especially during this time of the pandemic,” said Caidic, the brainchild of the project. “We had fund-raising activities before the pandemic and it is not possible to hold events at this time, so this is a good alternative.”
Nicknamed “The Triggerman” for his long-range bombs, Caidic earlier came out with his own sets of commemorative replica jerseys, tracing his beginnings with the Northern Consolidated, Great Taste, Presto Tivoli, San Miguel up to his final team in Ginebra.
The jerseys were all sold out in no time.
Caidic said the “commemorative jersey” is a project of the PBA Legends Foundation to raise more funds for their projects. Their most recent beneficiary was former Ginebra player Terry Saldana, who sought the foundation’s help for his hospitalization.
Lim’s No. 9 jersey is the emotional favorite this time as the former San Miguel Beerman and many-time national athlete is currently recovering from a near-fatal stroke he suffered during a Legends’ exhibition game in Pasig City in 2014.
Nicknamed “The Skywalker” for his flamboyant, hang-time moves, Lim had nine championships with San Miguel Beer and was member of the Philippine Team from 1984 to 1990. He was admired for his daring role in the Philippines’ overtime win over the United States in the 1985 William Jones Cup. Lim celebrated his 58th birthday last April 1.
The project was supposed to be officially launched this April during the PBA Season 2021 opening that was postponed as the government implemented enhance community quarantine restrictions amid the rising cases of the virus.
The commemorative jerseys are now open for online orders via the facebook page of the PBA Legends Foundation.
