Marc Pingris, also known as “Pinoy Sakuragi” announced his retirement from the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) at the age of 39.
The basketball star of Magnolia said in a social media post that he is retiring after 16 years of playing professional basketball.
“I remember my name being called during the 2004 PBA Draft. Doon nagsimulang matupad ang pangarap ng isang batang palengke. 16 years na din ako sa PBA pero alam ko na ngayon na din ang tamang panahon para umpisahan ang bagong chapter ng buhay ko,” he said in an Instagram post Tuesday night.
(“That’s when the dreams of a child market vendor started to come true. I’ve been in the PBA for 16 years but I know that now is the right time to start a new chapter in my life.”)
“I want to thank everyone na naniwala at sumuporta sa ‘kin, sa mama ko na inspiration ko, sa ate and kuya ko na nagdisiplina sa ‘kin, at lahat ng relatives ko,” he added.
Marc Pingris retires from PBA at 39
Marc Pingris spent 14 seasons with the Purefoods franchise where he established his reputation as perhaps the best defender in the PBA for a long period of time and led them alongside James Yap to four-straight titles and a rare PBA Grand Slam as the San Mig Coffee Mixers in 2013-2014.
Born in Pozorrubio, Pangasinan, Pingris started his career in the PBA being picked third overall at the 2004 PBA draft by the FedEx Express, and was traded to Purefoods after a few games. After spending three years with Purefoods, he was traded to San Miguel and was traded back again after a year.
Marc Pingris represented the Philippine national team and contributed heavily when they bagged the silver medal on the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship that sent them to the 2014 FIBA World Cup.