Magnolia veteran Marc Pingris considering retirement

Jean Marc Pingirs is giving himself up to March of this year to decide whether he would continue playing or call it a day.

The 39-year old Pingris, who has 16 eventful PBA seasons tucked under his belt, has missed a considerable amount of games during the past couple of seasons due to an assortment of injuries – most significant of which is when he tore the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) of his left knee during Game 1 of the 2018 PBA Philippine Cup semifinals.

He returned the following season after a 16-month layoff and submitted 21-game averages of 3.4 points and 3.7 rebounds in only 14.7 minutes of action.

Just recently, the 9-time PBA champion missed the 2020 Philippine Cup inside the PBA bubble in Clark, Pampanga due to a right calf injury.

With no live contract as of December 31 coupled by injury woes in the past three years, Pingris is now pondering his future in the league.

“I’m giving myself until end of March to decide because I can’t command my body to be okay. I know I’m not getting any younger plus the wear and tear I’ve had playing,” said Pingris in Tagalog during an interview with ESPN5.

When asked if he has already talked to team management regarding a new deal, the 3rd overall pick of the 2004 draft disclosed that he is currently focused on rehab and recovery.

“We haven’t talked yet because I’m first focusing on my rehab. But I do have plans to talk to them because I also want to know what their plans are,” said Pingris who added that he still wants to help the Hotshots in any capacity before he finally calls it quits.

“Any player will eventually retire from the PBA, but hopefully, before I retire, I want to be able to still help my team and mentor my (younger) teammates.”