Robert Jaworski

[3][4] Born to a Polish American father, Theodore Vincent Jaworski, and a Filipino mother of Ilocano descent, Iluminada Bautista Salazar.Jaworski was the lead guard of that team alongside Reynoso, Francis Arnaiz, Ramon Fernandez and William "Bogs" Adornado.Other players in that team included Rogelio "Tembong" Melencio, David "Dave" Regullano, Rosalio "Yoyong" Martirez, Manuel "Manny" Paner, Alberto "Abet" Guidaben, Jaime "Jimmy" Mariano and Ricardo "Joy" Cleofas.The closest that would compete for domination would be Ramon Fernandez's scintillating 1984 season for Beer Hausen where "El Presidente" averaged 27 points, 15 boards and 9.9 assists per game.Jaworski balked at the idea of joining Beer Hausen, the brand name of Basic Holdings after describing what he felt was a sale done without giving due respect to the personalities involved.Palanca, owner of La Tondeña, Inc. which owns Gilbey's Gin (later Ginebra San Miguel) in the PBA, decided to take in Jaworski and best buddy Arnaiz to the team.Jaworski and Arnaiz turned the moribund franchise into a competitive one almost overnight when in the first conference of the 1984 season, the All Filipino, they led the team to a runner-up finish against powerhouse Crispa.Jaworski took over as playing coach of Ginebra San Miguel while Valenzona went on limbo before moving to the Tanduay Rhum Makers in the 1986 season.Jaworski's first championship as a playing coach came in the 1986 Open Conference when he, alongside import players Michael Hackett and Billy Ray Bates, dominated the entire conference to win the championship finals at the expense of the Manila Beer team, then led by former Crispa players Abet Guidaben (who was traded from Tanduay vice Fernandez) and Atoy Co, alongside imports Michael Young and Harold Keeling.Purefoods owner Jaime Zobel De Ayala and president Renato Buhain publicly accused Fernandez of not playing up to par in Game 1 and ordered his benching for the entire series.In the final 4 seconds of that game, Jaworski inbounded the ball and gave the pass to Fernandez who streaked past Benjie Paras and made a twisting "elegant" shot for the two point win.Fernandez was among 12 players personally chosen by Jaworski to lead the charge for the team – others included Paras, Alvin Patrimonio, Allan Caidic, Samboy Lim, Yves Dignadice, Hector Calma, Ronnie Magsanoc, Zaldy Realubit and the Big J's players with Anejo – Dante Gonzalgo, Chito Loyzaga and Rey Cuenco.Distrito made a difficult, twisting, off-balanced and falling shot over the outstretched arms of Paras to pull off a two-point win and to the delight of millions of Ginebra fans watching the game.He also got Bal David from the free agent ranks after the latter displayed capability as a point guard when he and Aquino led the national team to the gold medal in the 1995 SEA Games.After being proclaimed Senator, Jaworski turned over the coaching chores to his long-time assistant Quirino "Rino" Salazar while taking a leave of absence from the basketball scene.He also owned the world record for oldest player to play in a professional game until it was broken by Saudi Arabian Abdulmohsen Khalaf Al-Muwallad in 2015.On May 30, 2003, 23 years after the end of the Crispa-Toyota rivalry, Jaworski made an appearance at a reunion game in the Araneta Coliseum, alongside fellow players from both teams.