Whenever the name Robert Jaworski is being brought up as a topic, people have the tendency to back track, especially when an issue is about The Big J.
Jaworski is one of the PBA’s all-time best. He even became larger than the league itself when his name is mentioned in the same breath with Barangay Ginebra, the most popular team in the pro league for the past three decades.
His charisma is like no other. His all-out attitude has become a shining example for players, particularly those average guys who were not blessed with much talent but were determined to get better because hard work is a good foundation to success
As a player and a coach, Jaworski has the skill set.
When he was still at the peak of his career as a player of the Toyota Tamaraws, he was the league’s best rebounding guard.
In fact, for two seasons, Jaworski was the PBA’s leading rebounder from 1977 to his MVP season in 1978.
Jaworski had a total rebounds of 453 in 1977 and 561 in 1978, topping all the best big men of his era, including his teammate Ramon Fernandez, Abet Guidaben and Philip Cezar of Crispa and Manny Paner of Royal Tru-Orange.
In fact, in 1978, he would lead both the defensive and offensive rebounding, at a time when players of unlimited height were seeing action in the PBA.
Jaworski would play in the league for 22 years and grabbed a total of 5,367 boards, ranked no. 7 in the all-time list.
Fast forward 2016-2017 season, here comes Scottie Thompson, a sophomore guard who is ironically playing for Jaworski’s former team, Ginebra.
Like Jaworski before, Thompson has the nose for the ball, beating the league’s bonafide big men off the boards.
He now ranks as no. 3 overall in rebounds with close to 11 boards per game. He’s been averaging double-double for the Gin Kings.
Make mine, Thompson could become a better rebounder than Jaworski and this early, the former NCAA MVP from Perpetual Help is showing glimpses of his capability to produce triple-double performances just like the other great rebounding guards in the NBA like Magic Johnson of the LA Lakers and lately Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Watching Thompson at play, you can feel his presence everywhere. But it was his rebounding prowess which caught the fancy of many and he grabs a rebound as if he has a magnet to get the ball.
If he continues to stay healthy, I won’t be surprised if Thompson would surpass Jaworski as the best rebounding pure guard in the PBA.
People get slighted or feel hurt whenever an icon’s record or achievement would be surpassed by another player, but I think the Big J would be more proud, especially if another Ginebra player is topping what he did best.
For the time being, I think Thompson is the best rebounding guard in the PBA, probably better than Jaworski.
Rey Joble has been a sportswriter for 17 years, and has been covering the PBA games for more than a decade. He is a member of the PBA Press Corps and Philippine Sportswriters Association, the oldest journalism group in the country.
