It's the day for the dads once again, and of course we imagine all the good times we had with our fathers, who were, or are still, legends and greats in their respective fields, at least from our perspective. In 45 years of the PBA's existence, the number of father-son tandems in the league has grown considerably - a sign that the PBA, and its ex-players, are surely getting up there in years.
We recollected and counted, and we arrived at 26. That's the number of father-son/s combinations that have played in the PBA. We categorized and classified, and here is what we came up with.
MVP dads
Let's start with some MVP dads who had sons play in the league as well. There are three: Sonny Jaworski (1978), Freddie Hubalde (1977), and Ato Agustin (1992). Jaworski's son, Dodot, played three years in the PBA (he missed what was to be his rookie year in 1995 with an injury), all with Ginebra, where they were the first father-son tandem to suit up. Paolo Hubalde was a first-round pick of San Miguel and he stayed in the league for more than a decade with several different teams. Marc Agustin was able to play for Petron and Barako Bull in a short PBA stint. While the sons were not able to match the great success of their legendary fathers, they nevertheless achieved what not too many have, which is to follow their daddies' footsteps into the PBA.
Daddies from the '70s and early '80s
Like Jawo and Hubalde, there are some other PBA vets who played in the 1970s and early 1980s whose sons also reached the PBA circle. Marty Tierra, who played for U/Tex, had a son, Jomar, who played for Sta Lucia in the early 2000s. There is also Mario Basco, a player for Tefilin and Manhattan in the early '80s, whose son, Marlon, donned the Ginebra jersey at one time. Royal Tru-Orange/San Miguel/Beer Hausen forward Jess Migalbin's son, Richard Yee, played for more than ten years for three teams, but mostly with the Purefoods franchise. Then there is Florendo Ritualo, Sr, who played for Great Taste/Presto, whose son, Florendo, Jr, better known as Renren, lit up the league for many years as a premiere shooter for six different teams. Roberto "Bebet" Legaspi, who donned the Mariwasa jersey in the first two years of the PBA, had a son, Marlon, who was a first-round pick of SMB and also later played for Shell. Ricardo Dela Peña played on Royal Tru-Orange from 1978-1979 and was on RTO's first franchise title in the 1979 Open Conference. His youngest son is Kelvin Dela Peña, who played for Alaska, which drafted him in 2008, where he also won a title in 2010. Versatile Great Taste player Joel Banal is one of only three PBA dads (Alvin Teng and soon, Norman Black) with two sons in the PBA. Gab played for Global Port, while younger brother Ael played for Blackwater.
Same team for dads and sons
There are also those father-son pairs who were able to play for the same franchises. The Jaworskis (Ginebra) and Agustins (SMB/Petron) lead the list. Ginebra seems to be a favorite destination of father-son combinations because aside from the Jaworskis, there are three duos of father and son big men who also played for the franchise - Romulo Mamaril and his son, Billy; Peter Aguilar and jumpin' Japeth; and Santiago "Sonny" Cabatu and his son, Junjun. All three father and son pairings played for other franchises at first, but ended up at one point on the La Tondeña squad. Alvin Teng was shortly with Alaska, his son Jeron's current team, at the tail-end of his career. In like manner, Freddie Hubalde played for Ginebra at the end of his career, the same team his son, Paolo, played on for one season, 2006-07.
Dads-coaches
Dodot Jaworski spent his entire career playing under and with his dad, who was playing-coach, but he was not the only PBA son to play for his own dad. Ato coached his son, Marc, at Petron. Coach Black, who started out as an import in the PBA back in the 1980s, coached his stepson, Chris Tan, at Sta Lucia, and is set to coach his son, Aaron, whom his Meralco team drafted in 2019.
Sons of awardee dads
While three former MVPs had sons in the PBA, how about some other individual awardees? Alvin Teng, a former Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY), has had two sons suit up in the PBA, Jeric and Jeron. Art dela Cruz, also a former DPOY, has his son, Arthur, now in the Ginebra lineup. SMB Coach Leo Austria, 1985 Rookie of the Year (ROY), has a son, Raymund, more familiarly known as Bacon, who played six games for Blackwater in the 2014-15 season. Finally, 1992 ROY Ferdinand "Bong" Ravena has a son, Kiefer, who currently plays pretty well for NLEX.
Champions, both dads and sons
Which pairs can boast of having won PBA titles? Again, the Jaworskis, Hubaldes, and Agustins are included here, but the Mamarils and Tengs (Alvin and Jeric) also fit the bill. Black and Tan won a championship together at Sta Lucia, and Migalbin and Yee also were part of champion teams in their careers. As earlier mentioned, the Dela Peñas both won a championship in their short PBA careers. Another PBA champion father-son combination is Romy dela Rosa (Shell) and his son, Rome (Magnolia).
Import dads, import and local sons
Aside from Black, there are other former PBA imports whose sons played/are playing in the PBA as well. For Black and the late Bobby Parks, both multiple Best-Import awardees, their sons (Aaron and Bobby Ray, respectively) are considered as locals, as both sons were born of Filipina mothers. For hulking '80s import Francois Wise (U/Tex, Tanduay, Manila Beer, Hills Bros), his son, Eric, was an import for Barako in 2014, while 1984 Ginebra import Dartona Washam's son, Tony, played for B-Meg Derby Ace in 2010.
Undrafted dads, drafted Sons
There are three pairs of fathers and sons where the dads entered the PBA after 1985, the institution of the PBA Draft, but they were not drafted. Former NCC standout Elmer Reyes and young national team recruit Alvin Teng entered the league as direct-hires of the Magnolia Cheesemakers in the third conference of the 1986 season, although Reyes had already played in the PBA a few times with the guest national team prior to that. Elmer's son, Raphy, was drafted in the second round of the 2012 Draft and played four years in the PBA. Jeric Teng was drafted by Rain or Shine in 2013, while Jeron, by Alaska in 2017. Mark Tallo went undrafted in the 1991 PBA Draft, but latched on with 7-Up for two seasons. His son, Mac, emerged as a first-round draft pick in 2017 and played briefly for TNT and NLEX. On the other hand, Tan is the only second generation, non-import player that played in the PBA despite being undrafted.
Dads who've left us
Sadly, three first generation PBA players are no longer around for this year's Fathers' Day. Bobby Parks, Sr passed away in 2013. Vigildo "Gido" Babilonia, a twelve-year PBA veteran and father of Alaska's Gideon "Gboy", left us in 2007 at the age of just forty. Florendo Ritualo, Sr, Renren's dad, passed away in January 2019.
Almost made the list
Worth mentioning are the near-hit PBA father-son pairs like Jimmy Mariano and his late son, Jonas; Adriano "Jun" Papa and his son Addy; and Tim Coloso and son Dustin. All three sons of the former PBA players were drafted, but they did not latch on to any PBA team, thus preventing their inclusion in the listings above. A reverse situation happened in the case of Coach Boysie Zamar and his son, Paul, who was drafted in 2012 by Ginebra but now plays for San Miguel. Boysie was drafted in the fourth round of the 1990 Draft; however, he went unsigned and never played in the PBA. Boysie is now an Assistant Coach on his son's team.
The Webbs
Last, but certainly not the least, is the unique case of PBA pioneer player Freddie Webb. His son, Jason, was in the league for a few years before venturing into game commentary and coaching. Jason's nephew, Freddie's grandson, Joshua, also played in the PBA, for Kia/Mahindra. This makes the Webbs the first to have three generations of PBA players. Curiously, while both Freddie and Jason at one time sported the team name "Tanduay" on their respective jerseys, the Tanduay teams for which they played are actually only related by product name as the original squad, owned by the Elizaldes, folded for good after the 1987 season, with most of its players transferring to the Purefoods franchise. In contrast, the team that made a cameo appearance in the PBA from 1999 to 2001 was a new franchise formed under the Lucio Tan Group of Companies.
So, there you have it - 26 families with intergenerational PBA playing experience, particularly involving fathers and sons, and, in one case, a grandson. Expect more to come in the years ahead. It is not far-fetched to believe that the sons above-mentioned were inspired by and strived to follow in the footsteps of their fathers, and they achieved their goal.
In like manner, it is safe to presume that all the dads beamed with pride when their sons took to the court on the very stomping grounds they used to patrol. The levels of stardom, or averageness, of the dads and sons above-mentioned differ from case to case, but surely, they all contributed somehow in fervent discussions about the storied and oftentimes colorful history of the PBA. Happy Fathers' Day to all daddies everywhere!