Councilor-elect Yap non-committal yet on PBA return

Two-time PBA Most Valuable Player will now embrace a new challenge and it’s not going to happen inside the basketball court.

His new game will have to take place in the city of San Juan where he will serve as one of the newly elected councilors.

But that doesn’t mean he’s already done playing in the PBA and if Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters co-owner Raymond Yu where to ask be asked, the man known as “Big Game James” deserves a good farewell season.

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“James Yap deserves to be given a fitting tribute as an acknowledged star player of Rain Or Shine and provide him the honor for his contributions not, just to our team, but also the previous squad he played for,” Yu told ABS-CBN News in a telephone interview.

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“He has been the face of the PBA for many years.”

Yap has expressed his desire to return to action even after being elected as a new councilor of San Juan.

In a Viber message, Yap was asked by Rain Or Shine management of his plans on when he will rejoin the team’s practices.

“Tinanong lang ako ni (team executive) Boss Edison (Oribiana) kung kalian ako mag-practice. Pero magpapa-kundisyon muna ako sa Italy. May trainer ako doon,” wrote Yap.

Yap is set to leave for Italy next week to fetch his kids, but when he plans to rejoin the squad’s training sessions remains a big question.

The league’s new season is also set to begin on June 5, which means the 40-year-old cager will have to fast track working out to keep him ready for his return to action.

Yap wants to end the season on a high note as he has a good shot of reaching a milestone before calling it a career. He is currently ranked third overall in the all-time list for players with most number of three-point shots made behind Jimmy Alapag (1,250) and Allan Caidic (1,242).

The pride of Escalante, Negros Occidental has compiled 1,177 treys in a career that started in 2004.