Rain or Shine import Michael Qualls is thrilled to play with James Yap in the Governors’ Cup of the Philippine Basketball Association.
The 6-foot-3 Qualls said he is pumped up to play with the 40-year-old gunner since his stature and popularity in Philippine basketball is comparable to late great Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association.
Yap is making a return after a brief hiatus to enter the political arena.
He made an impact right away as he scored 12 points in the first half, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer at the half, of their 87-105 loss to NLEX in the opener of the season-ending conference.
Qualls admitted that he is in awe of Yap’s heroics.
“I’m excited about the opportunity. It feels like playing with Kobe Bryant,” said Qualls, referring to the two-time Most Valuable Player who is now a councilor in San Juan City.
Qualls said he had no doubt that he would make a return to the Philippines.
But when Rain or Shine came calling, he immediately picked up the phone and agreed to suit up.
“The Philippines is one of the countries which I believe I have an opportunity of getting another call up,” Qualls told Daily Tribune in a telephone conversation.
“I’m just not sure which team I was headed for until Rain or Shine offered me to play for them.”
At Rain or Shine, Qualls was reacquainted with several familiar faces, including head coach Yeng Guiao.
Guiao used to coach NLEX for six years and in the 2019 Governors’ Cup, he led the Road Warriors to the top seed of the season-ending tournament on top of a twice-to-beat advantage.
But standing on their way was NorthPort, then reinforced by Qualls.
Qualls and the Batang Pier defeated the Road Warriors twice in a row to reach the Final Four.
Guiao is delighted to have Qualls on his side now but admitted that he was having reservations on bringing him because of his size.
At 6-foot-3, Qualls is the smallest among the 12 imports seeing action.
“I was having reservations because he’s smaller than the other imports and we cannot maximize the 6-foot-6 height limit and we’re already a small team,” Guiao said.
“But he makes up for that with his boundless energy and his athleticism, so I’ve figured he can compensate for that.”
“Also, it’s good to have somebody you’re familiar with, especially someone who was able to beat your team in the past and now he’s on your side, so the burden of having to compete against him is no longer there.”
