Moments after his team beat San Miguel in Game 1 of the PBA Finals, Ryan Reyes entered the dugout of the Victorias Sports Complex and slumped into his chair. He tallied 14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals while in a 48-minute daze. No longer distracted by a new venue, no longer sidetracked by the frenzy of a Finals game, he was hardly comforted by one victory. In the silence of a small room, at the end of his working day, he slid back into reality. And the painful truth, momentarily lost in Talk ‘N Text’s fast-paced tempo, returned. Chot Reyes walked over to check on him. But the head coach couldn’t stop Ryan’s tears from falling. Alan Raymond Ignacio Reyes, 26, is gone. His girlfriend Vanessa Cease, 24, is gone too. Both were killed in a fatal highway car accident in Anaheim, California last January 19. How bad was the accident? Raymond’s Toyota Scion doesn’t even look like a car anymore. How life changes when there’s another driver on the wrong side of the road, a speeding bullet on wheels on the wrong side of the freeway. Raymond, who was violently thrown out of the car by the head-on collision, and Vanessa were pronounced dead on the scene.
Ryan is still stunned. He’s in a different continent. He’s in an indistinguishable emotional state. Life is suddenly different. He is no longer just a PBA player out to win a championship. He is also an older brother grieving the untimely loss of a younger brother, a father mourning the loss of the devoted uncle of his three kids (all based in the US) and a proud family member about to see Raymond graduate once school ends. Ryan and Raymond were expectedly close. Ryan was born in 1983. Raymond was born in 1985. Only two years separated them apart. Tragically, it’s no longer the case.
As soon as he hears the final buzzer of Game 2, Reyes will skip the post-game meeting, hop into a team service vehicle, follow police escorts, snake through weeknight traffic from the Cuneta Astrodome to NAIA Terminal 2 and catch a 10:00pm Philippine Airlines flight to Los Angeles. The plane has been advised to wait. The Finals can wait. Yet Reyes won’t make his team wait too long. Even if the team understands if he asks that they wait a little longer.
Ryan will miss Game 3 on Friday. He’ll be back in Manila in time to play for Talk ‘N Text in Game 4. Little will change. He will still play in-your-defense. He will still run fast-breaks like he’s being chased by Rottweilers. And he will still grieve. I hope fans will appreciate the effort. Not everyone wearing shorts is a consummate pro. So when a PBA player is as committed to his craft, as committed to his team while simultaneously being crushed by a deep, personal loss, he deserves a great amount of prayer as well as a great amount of praise.
Mico Halili, GMA News TV
