Danny Ildefonso: Lakay
comes home
by rick olivares
The new gym wasn’t built because he won a bunch of
championships or put the school on the map of college basketball. His teams
didn’t win any trophies but they sure put the fear of God into more
fancied opponents.
Suddenly, from the elevated track oval, chants of
“lakay” – from the old warhorses who have stayed on as coaches or from those
players who came after him – reverberated across the gym on a cold and rainy
Tuesday afternoon disrupting the video shoot for a new Gatorade campaign.
The conquering hero was home and even the young guns
acknowledged it.
The place he once called home – for four years of his
life – isn’t that familiar anymore. On his way to his alma mater, he turned
into a street and was flagged down for a traffic violation.
“Sir,” said the cop with a touch or irritation. “One
way street po ito.”
When officer took a closer look at the face of the
driver who pleaded that he didn’t know because when he went to school in these
parts, this wasn’t a one-way street, the traffic enforcer’s face relaxed and he
then broadly grinned.
What happened then was Danny Ildefonso got a police
escort all the way to the front of National University, his first home away
from home.
It isn’t his first time back since he left school to turn
pro. But it’s rare he’s in these parts and certainly not since the Sy family purchased the school. He
had to do a double take when he saw the site of the old rickety gym where his
team of Bad News Bears, er, Bulldogs, practiced under the late and sainted
Sonny Paguia, a man, Ildefonso affectionately called, “tatay.” The gym atop the
old college of engineering was torn down to make way for a more modern and
plush annex for the school that has grown leaps and bounds when it was infused
by SM money.
It was here in NU where Danny was first affectionately
called by his senior-ish nickname “lakay” that in the Ilocano dialect means,
“old man.” Maybe it was because he came from a farming background in rural
Pangasinan. Maybe because in a pure basketball sense, he is last player from
the 1998 PBA Draft to still wear his high tops to work (there is only one
player older who was drafted ahead of him who is still in the PBA and that is
Nic Belasco).
Tuesday at the Gatorade shoot, Ildefonso sat next to
current Bulldogs point guard Gelo Alolino where in one of the scenes, they talked
about old school NU basketball.
Alolino was a hot-shot point guard recruited out of
the University of Perpetual Help in Las Piñas. Ildefonso, like many others
before him, was a mere walk-in. A friend from Pangasinan who was studying at
that time at NU brought him along for a tryout under Paguia. And the rest…
well, is history as we know it.
History. Even at age 37, Ildefonso is still making breaking
new ground. “The only two-time number one pick in PBA history,” he quipped
referring to his first draft in 1998 and in the expansion draft last June 18
where Blackwater, one of the PBA’s newest ball clubs selected him.
For a while there, being waived by the Meralco Bolts
stung Lakay. In fact, his departure from San Miguel still brings tears to his
eyes. “Dalawang beses na sa mga huling taon na ‘to, bro,” he said while not
bothering to hide his emotions. “But challenge ‘to. So dapat ibahin ko pananaw
ko. Meron pa rin mga opportunities di ba? Heto, nasama pa sa bagong campaign ng
Gatorade.”
It seems all his life, he’s had to prove people
wrong. “Nung nasa NU ako kasama si Lordy Tugade, Jojo Gonzales, Jun Cuevas…”
He paused to laugh. “Maliban kay Lordy, hindi kilala
yung iba no? Sa gym pa lang alam mo kulang na kulang kami sa support. Pero yun
ang nagpatibay sa amin. Gustong gusto naming makalaban yan mga ibang big
schools like Ateneo and La Salle.”
In one memorable game during his UAAP years, Tugade
launched a buzzer-beating missile from halfcourt that stole a win from the Blue
Eagles leaving the victory cheer of the Ateneans stuck in their throats.
Meanwhile the Bulldogs happily repaired to their homey domain in Sampaloc,
Manila, where they celebrated with a plate of pancit bihon.
“Simple lang kami, bro. Simple lang.”
During a recent match against his former team (that
was at the time called), Petron, in the season-opening Philippine Cup,
Ildefonso put up 17 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and five blocks in a
losing effort. That prompted Danny’s youngest son, Dave, to remark, “Magaling
pala maglaro si daddy!”
Lakay laughed. Truly the young do not know their
history. But his basketball playing sons, Shaun and Dave (who both play for
Ateneo), now dutifully listen and pay attention to his basketball advice. “Kailangan
talaga i-prove ang sarili… kahit sa anak,” he laughed once more.
When the Ildefonso sons were younger, Lakay never
forced them to take up the sport in which he excelled. “Naglagay lang ako ng
laruan na bola, yung maliit ba, sa kama nila. Yun – bahala na sila,” he laughed
at the memory. Nowadays, the father, at every opportunity he gets, watches his
basketball-loving sons play.
Ildefonso suited up for only four years in NU as
Coach Sonny advised him to take his game to the next level. “Coach, meron pa
akong isang year,” he recalled himself as saying to Paguia. Replied the coach,
“Kung ako sa ‘yo, mag-pro na ako keso meron na mga gustong kumuha sa ‘yo.
Hayaan mo na yun pwesto mo sa NU sa iba.”
That bit of fatherly advice has served Lakay in good
stead – “meron gusto kumuha sa ‘yo.”
“Yung sinabi ko sa ‘yo na mag-iba ng pananaw – ito na
yun.”
Lakay knows he is in the twilight of a long and
distinguished career. He isn’t just some old warhorse trying to stay when his
mind say go but his body stays put. “Kasi, bro, mahal ko yung laro. Meron pa
naman tayong ibibigay. Sa Blackwater, pinakita ni God na dito ka. Hindi naman
tayo humihingi na maraming minuto. Basta makatulong okay na. Alam ko naman ang
lugar ko. At isa pa, trabaho ko rin i-mentor yung mga bata.”
“Gusto ko graceful exit. Ayaw ko yung bigla na lang
nawala or tinabi.”
Just as the director calls for a new take on a scene,
Jeff Napa, current coach of the NU Bullpups, the Juniors team, says out loud, “Lakaaaaaaaaay!”
The director called, “Cut.”
Danny Ildefonso put a finger to his lips to motion silence.
Napa, mischief done, saluted.
The king has come home.
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