Larry Fonacier has been dubbed the Baby-Faced Assassin, striking fear in opponents' hearts when he's beyond the arc. But really, he's all heart.
"I don't have friends, I have family."
Fast & Furious' Dominic Toretto's quips about family have been the subject of endless memes, and probably a few cringes too. But for a Road Warrior like Larry Fonacier, this may really be the case as he officially changed roles from NLEX player to team manager at the start of the year.
There's no doubt about his skills — seven PBA championships and a 2011-12 Philippine Cup Finals MVP trophy would attest to that. Foreign pressure doesn't faze him either, as he won a gold medal in the 2012 Jones Cup and a silver medal in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship.
But a team manager doesn't deal much with the Xs and the Os. He deals in handshakes, he shoots assurances, and he dribbles in jokes and praises. And this may be where Fonacier could hone NLEX to its maximum speed.
He understands player motivations
Like any good mediator in the family, Fonacier understands where people are coming from — even if they're his opponents. For one thing, he doesn't get why the early rivalry between Ateneo and La Salle in the UAAP has become so heated.
"Bakit kailangan may away na ganyan? Bakit kailangan mainit ang dugo natin kay BJ Manalo?" the 2002 UAAP co-Finals MVP told UAAP Varsity Channel's School Spirit.
"Pinasok sa isip namin na okay, kaaway natin tong si BJ, traydor kasi si BJ. He was just doing a business decision at that time, that players are doing right now!"
And that's why Fonacier chose to shy away from such aggression.
"It would be so petty and immature for me to fight them [na] parang sa loob ng court na wala namang dahilan," he added.
He will fight for you
You know you got a family when they're willing to stand by you when the going gets tough.
Just like when Larry Fonacier and the rest of the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the early 2000s had to defend the fiery coach Joe Lipa when he resigned after several losses.
"Huwag tayo pumayag dito. Pakalbo tayo as a team," Fonacier told UAAP Varsity Channel's Glory Days. That sparked the "I love Joe" moment for Ateneo.
He made sure that Coach Joe knew he was still loved by his squad, as they showed him that video.
He is open to learn and he garners respect
Larry Fonacier knew his worth very early on. The 2002 UAAP champion said just as much to the son of his coach after he was benched in a loss.
"Sabihin mo sa tatay mo, 'pag gusto niyang manalo ng game, huwag niya ko ilalabas," he recounted to UAAP Varsity Channel's School Spirit.
But he mellowed out and absorbed everything like a sponge, like maintaining positivity from Dylan Ababou.
Fonacier has used this attitude of gratefulness as a source of strength, constantly posting Bible verses as an acknowledgement of his blessings.
And after 17 years of competing with Red Bull, Magnolia, Alaska, Talk 'N Text, and NLEX, players from all over the PBA have saluted his class.
He lifts people up
Larry Fonacier knows just how to drive people, especially when they're down.
In that same farewell post, one teammate shared how Fonacier inspired him even after missing what would have been two game-winning free throws.
"Sabi mo lang, 'Ano nangyari sa 'yo? 'Di ka nagalit whatsoever. Then sa OT, pinasa mo nang pinasa sakin ['yung] bola and we won," a commenter said.
That was Trisan Timbol, Fonacier's teammate way back in grade school until high school.
Handing out advice both in and out of the court may really be in his nature, since the story of a young boy and an aging projectionist's friendship in Cinema Paradiso is admittedly Fonacier's favorite movie.
He treats family as a priority
Larry Fonacier is without a doubt, a family man. His IG feed shows as much.
Before training for the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship, Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes wanted all players to sign a letter of commitment to devote their full time and effort for the national team. Fonacier admitted later that he had second thoughts but it was his wife who pushed him to do it.
"With my wife being pregnant with our second child, it meant being away for long stretches. But she agreed this is something that doesn't come too often, so that clinched it for me," he said later in the book 11 Days in August.
Asked later in School Spirit what his biggest clutch play in college was, Fonacier shares it wasn't any key move inside the court.
It was meeting his future wife, Lora.
"A lot of people thought that it was gonna be detrimental to my career," he said. "To the contrary, if I knew what I know now back then, I probably would've married my wife, my best friend early."
"I say with all my heart that my whole PBA career, my whole basketball career, when I would focus my time on the most important things in my life, then I was successful."
And now that Larry Fonacier would be treating NLEX as a family, imagine more what he can do.