It was head coach Chot Reyes of the Talk ‘N Text Phone Pals who said “there are some players
who have the desire but no talent, there are players will talent but no desire. But here you have a player who has both.”

He was referring to Jay Washington. He poses great danger to Talk ‘N Text’s bid to win this
year’s Philippine Cup. And apart from giving the San Miguel franchise it’s 19th title and
helping Captain Olsen Racela retire with a championship, he’s hoping to beat his former team.

“There is some animosity”, shares Washington. “It’s all about the way I was handled at
TNT, under coach Chot. At the end of coach Chot’s first conference with Talk 'N Text, I was
traded to San Miguel.

“For me, I felt it was more of a personal reason that I was being traded and I felt it was a
personal attack. I felt that Chot didn’t like me.”

It was the hard truth and Washington was at first reluctant to share but he seemed relieved after getting his inner sentiments off his chest.

“It was hard dealing with management in that type of situation, all that management gets is what coaches tell them. I was put in a situation where they were telling me one thing, encouraging me to tell them what was wrong, but then those were things that were used against me to trade me.”

“I felt like I was thrown to the side. Inside I felt I had so much I can do and do for this
team. I was living and dying for this team. Being the league’s No. 1 draft pick (in 2005), I
had high hopes. I got injured, I tried to find my way back in, I felt like I had a hope, but
relationships got distant and I felt it. It was a hard situation.”

It came to a point where “J-Wash” even contemplated on taking a year off from the PBA and wait till the end of his season sit-out so that he’d just end up being a free agent in the end.

He said that getting traded to San Miguel was the saving grace of his career. “The feeling I had
when I joined SMB was night and day. It was how a team is supposed to feel and I was so grateful for that.”

Motivation can make a man go over and beyond himself. Call it thirst, call it hunger, call in
vengeance.

Now we know who’ll be the most marked man in the Finals.