They share two things in common.
Former Ateneo Blue Eagle SJ Belangel is 5-foot-10 and plays the point. It is a safe bet he has been playing point for practically his entire basketball life. So, it would make sense that the Korean Basketball League (KBL) standout would have idolized point guards and similar-sized dudes.
That’s probably the case for Belangel.
But, like most other players, the ex-Gilas playmaker had several boyhood idols—including one who is not a point guard. He is not even a guard.
And, on Saturday, he got the chance to not only come face-to-face with this childhood idol, but to also play against him.
So, who exactly is this player that caught the fancy of a young Belangel? None other than ex-PBA player and now Japan B.League Asian import Greg Slaughter.
The two were on opposing sides in an exhibition match pitting Belangel’s KBL team, the Daegu KOGAS Pegasus, against Slaughter’s Japan B.League squad, the Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka.
The two Ateneans, fortunately, got together sometime either before or after the game. And Belangel, perhaps unsurprisingly, posted on Instagram a photo of him and Slaughter—with this caption: “Nice to see one of my childhood idols. Nice game, Kuya @gregslaughter.”
Take a look:
Belangel, of course, is not only a former player of Gilas. He is actually a Gilas hero thanks to that miraculous, off-balance triple he banked in to tow the Philippines past perennial nemesis South Korea, 81-78, in their 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers matchup.
And yet on Saturday, he looked just a bit starstruck next to one of his boyhood idols. Just a little bit.