PBA fans will be surprised at Strothers' admission.
Former San Miguel Beermen import Lamont Strothers was mostly cool as a cucumber. But that didn’t mean he never got hot under the collar.
And, apparently, there was one PBA player who knew exactly what buttons to push to get Strothers charged up.
That player was Vince Hizon of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, a team Strothers fondly remembers for giving him a tough time—every time.
“We had some battles [San Miguel versus Ginebra],” Strothers admitted in the podcast An Eternity of Basketball. “I don’t take a lot of crap from people and players. They hit me, I hit back.”
It was at this point when Strothers made his startling revelation.
“But the guy who used to get under my skin was Vince Hizon. Later on, we talked. We used to talk all the time,” Strothers noted. “But on the court we used to go at it. And when I got the chance to throw him down, I threw him down.”
Strothers was then asked why Hizon routinely got him hot under the collar.
“He would always try to hold me and take little cheap shots,” Strothers answered. “And I would always get him back.”
The prolific American, however, was quick to point out that Hizon’s antics were all just part of the game and that there was never any bad blood between him and The Prince.
“Little cheap shots, you know, and all that. But it was all fun and games,” said Strothers. “I don’t hate anybody. We didn’t have that type of relationship or are disrespectful to each other. We respected each other—he played hard, I played hard.”
“Helicopter Strothers” as he was known to PBA fans, had several tours of duty with the Beermen, whom he led to two PBA Governors’ Cup titles (1999 and 2000). Hizon, meanwhile, had his best years with Ginebra, playing for the crowd darlings from 1995 to 1998 and winning one title.