MANILA -- PBA icon Robert Jaworski is recovering from an illness after catching pneumonia last year, his family said.

In an official statement posted on Jaworski's Facebook page, the family revealed that the basketball legend had difficulty "regaining his health, weight, and normal well-being" due to a blood ailment discovered back in 2016.

Jaworski, best known for his role as Barangay Ginebra's feisty playing coach in the '80s and early '90s, had just turned 75 last March 8.

"Last year, he was hospitalized due to a bout with pneumonia. He, however, tested negative for COVID-19. Due to a non-life threatening blood abnormality that was discovered by his doctors in 2016, former senator Jaworski has experienced difficulty in regaining strength, weight and normal well-being," said the family.

"Despite this, his is making good progress and is slowly moving forward."

• Jaworski, Barca legend Paulino Alcantara headline PH sports hall of fame inductees

No local basketball player has caught the imagination of Filipino fans more than Jaworski.

It was the "Big J," who first instilled the "never say die" spirit in Ginebra, a phenomenon very much alive in the Gin Kings up to this day.

Jaworski recently topped the latest list of the 10 outstanding athletes, together with the late Fil-Spanish footballer Paulino Alcantara, who will be enshrined next month in the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame.

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