Olsen Racela, one of the finest point guards in the history of the Philippine Basketball Association, said he badly wants to win another crown before finally calling it a career.

‘’I really want to finish my career with a championship,’’ said Racela, whose leadership has anchored the Beermen in several championships games in the past.

After getting his contract extended late last year, Racela has announced that he is set to retire at the end of the ongoing Philippine Cup.

But for Racela to end his career with a flourish, the Beermen need to get past a tough Talk ‘N Text side in the finals of the Philippine Cup, which starts on Saturday in Victorias City.

‘’Siguro dito sa championship series na ito wala nang mas gutom sa panalo kaysa sa akin. Kasi nga huling conference ko na ito kaya gusto ko talaga makuha,” Racela said.

His teammates also want to see him exit on a high note that’s why they would give it their all just to give their team captain the championship that he wishes.

‘’Sana magtuloy ‘yung trend na kapag may mag-reretire na magaling na player, magcha-champion like yung kay Jeff (Cariaso) last conference. We want to win this one for Olsen (Racela),’’ said Dondon Hontiveros.

Incidentally, Racela, on his final games, will get to play against his very first head coach when he was starting to carve his name as a high school player and later as a PBA player in Tropang Texters coach Chot Reyes.

Reyes coached Racela in the Ateneo juniors in the late 1980s before personally selecting him in the 1993 draft to play for Purefoods. Racela transferred to San Miguel Beer in 1997, where he would spend the rest of his career.

‘’There’s nothing more satisfying and gratifying as a coach to see a career like Olsen’s flourish. It was my rookie year in coaching when Olsen came in at 1993 so I drafted him. Personally, my fulfillment as a coach is to see my former players triumph,’’ said Reyes.

After the conference, Racela will instantly be a part of the San Miguel coaching staff as an assistant to provide help to the team that he played for in the past 14 seasons.

Racela is even being considered as one of the candidates to take over for the RP-Youth National squad as coach after Eric Altamirano recently stepped down.

The 40-year-old quarterback, who’s the oldest active player, has moved up to fourth in the all-time list for most games played in the PBA. He passed basketball legend Philip Cezar for the spot.

Jeric Lopez, Manila Standard Today