Zavier Lucero, the no. 5 pick of the Season 48 Draft, returns to basketball with NorthPort in the PBA, after over a year of recovery from a major knee injury he sustained back in 2022.
Injured and all, Zav Lucero marched onto the court with only 0.7 remaining and Ateneo already had the championship in the bag in Game Three of the UAAP Season 85 Finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The former UP stalwart, who suffered an ACL tear on his left knee in Game Two, made the technical free throw as fans of both schools gave him an appreciative applause.
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That’s the last time Filipino fans saw the do-it-all forward on the court.
One year and two months later, Lucero returned to the same venue where he sustained the major injury, this time with NorthPort in the PBA.
Lucero showed flashes of his old self with 13 points and eight rebounds in his PBA debut, but the Batang Pier fell prey to NLEX, 107-100.
“Feels good. It’s a good introduction to basketball again, (it’s) my first game back. Just trying to find my rhythm again and just help the team win anyway I can,” he told reporters after the match.
The 6-foot-6 was still groping form, since he arrived from California only on Monday. But as far as his defense is concerned, it’s as if he didn’t skip a beat as he swatted four shots in over 31 minutes of action.
“That’s part of my game that I’ll never sacrifice. Whenever I have a chance to make a play on defense, imma go for it,” he said.
“For me it’s always been just help the team anyway you can, whether that’s offense or defense. I find the position to make a play, then I make the play. Just trying to help the team as best as I can,” he added.
After his long overdue PBA debut, Lucero was ultimately grateful for coach Bonnie Tan and the team’s trust.
“Coach gives everyone he puts out there the trust to play their game. I’m out there and I’m just trying to do my best to help the team win and do my best to find my spots and not force anything but convert on open opportunities, shoot it when I’m open and create when i can,” he said.
“He’s letting us all kinda find our flow within the game and trusting us in that. I’m happy about that. We didn’t get the win but I felt like were right there.”