Basketball legends Alvin Patrimonio and Jojo Lastimosa shared the spotlight when Samboy Lim was feted by Judge Juan Luna High School Alumni Association for the Lifetime Achievement Award.
On hand to receive the award on behalf of Lim was his family in two-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Christina Lim and Atty. Darlene Berberabe, who was recently appointed as Dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law.
In his speech, Lastimosa shared some of the fondest memories he had with Lim dating back to the time when they were still competing in the National Inter-Collegiate Championship.
Together with teammates like Dondon Ampalayo and Zaldy Realubit, Lastimosa’s team, University of San Jose-Recoletos, defeated Lim and the powerhouse Letran College.
Lastimosa and Lim would soon become teammates at the national team with the Lhuillier Jewelers in the old Philippine Amateur Basketball League, where they won the 1986 title.
“I remember back in those days, we only had one pair of shoes and Samboy was already a household name,” Lastimosa said, referring to his friendship with the man known as “Skywalker” for his devil-may-care attitude inside the court.
“But it was truly an honor for me to have Samboy as my teammate.”
“So when I got married in 1988, I made Samboy my best man because I felt we were truly bonded together. We had the same choice of car — Mitsubishi Galant Lambda.”
But there was this one forgettable day that happened on 18 July 1989, during a game between Lim’s team, San Miguel Beer, and Lastimosa’s squad, Purefoods.
In one play, Lim went airborne and was able to get past Lastimosa who was trying to block the ball from behind. While in mid-air, Lim got sandwiched by the defense of Nelson Asaytono and Jerry Codiñera and eventually lost his balance, hitting the floor hard with blood flowing from his eyebrow.
He had to be taken to a nearby hospital.
“I couldn’t remember who won in that game. All I was thinking at that time was Samboy. So after the game, I went straight to the hospital to check on him. I felt really down at that moment and that incident led to my friendship with Gary Valenciano,” Lastimosa said.
Valenciano was a big fan of Lim, but eventually became good friends with Lastimosa. Their friendship was also the reason why Lastimosa eventually became a Born Again Christian.
Lastimosa admitted that he lost that tight-knit relationship with Lim right after the incident.
“We would only say ‘hi’ and ‘hello’ since then,” Lastimosa said.
But Berberabe considers Lastimosa as one of those closest friends of Lim through the years and even after ‘The Skywalker’ suffered a stroke from an aneurysm. In fact, his former teammates and those close to him would still reunite to celebrate Lim’s birthday.
“Of course, Jolas, he would forever be one of Samboy’s best friends,” Berberabe said.
“Samboy would always share stories when you were teammates. To Cap (Alvin Patrimonio) and Jolas, thank you so much for the love and care for Samboy.”
“Every April 1, during Samboy’s birthday, they would visit Samboy and share stories with him. Through the years, it’s really difficult to find time, but these guys would always be there until now.”
