WATCH: President Duterte pays tribute to Gilas Pilipinas veteran Marc Pingris!
It was a good 16-year run for Marc Pingris. And for him, it was enough.
The Magnolia Hotshots veteran announced his PBA retirement Tuesday night, making everything official by writing a long, emotional post on his Instagram account.
Pingris accompanied his retirement post with a one-minute clip showing him as a young kid growing up in Pozzorubio, Pangasinan all the way to his journey to Asia’s first ever play-for-pay league and as one of the heroes of Gilas Pilipinas.
Pingris distinguished himself as a top defensive player throughout his career, a quality that would earn him a total of nine championships, highlighted by a rare grand slam in 2014 with the Purefoods franchise.
A three-time Defensive Player of the Year and eighth-time member of the All-Defensive team, the former PSBA stalwart also left an indelible mark in Philippine basketball history when he played a major role in Gilas Pilipinas qualifying in the FIBA World Cup for the first time in 36 years following the national team’s dramatic 86-79 victory over nemesis South Korea in the 2013 FIBA Asia Cup semifinals in Manila.
Pingris became a longtime Gilas regular and was a key fixture in their admirable, brave stand against world heavyweights Greece, Croatia, Argentina and Puerto Rico and African power Senegal in the world meet in Seville.