WHO’S CRYING NOW?
TNT’s Poy Erram became a meme the morning after the Tropang Giga’s PBA Governors’ Cup Finals, with one social media page labeling the mobile big man’s crying moment at the end of the closeout Game 6 as “tears of success.”
“What you gonna say now?” Erram shouted after a media scrum on Friday, similar to NBA star Jayson Tatum’s clapback at critics after leading the Boston Celtics to the crown in the last NBA season.
The 6-foot-7 standout felt he had the last laugh after a series where he was jeered for his animated reactions at officiating. Erram has heard those jeers before. This is the second time TNT and Ginebra faced off for the Governors’ Cup and he’s been at the receiving end of “iyakin” (crybaby) taunts from the Kings’ faithful.
Erram and the Tropang Giga have won both duels.
“I know a lot of people are sad [that TNT won], but that’s the way basketball is. There’s a winner and a loser,” Erram said in Filipino as he also described the victory as doubly sweet.
Key puzzle piece
Erram missed the whole 2023-24 season after undergoing knee surgery, and his absence contributed to the Tropang Giga’s struggles that saw a pair of quarterfinal exits in the Commissioner’s Cup and Philippine Cup.
His return this conference was another key piece in the puzzle for TNT, which relied mostly on defense to top Group A, almost steamrolling into the Finals, and atoning for losing a 2-0 lead against Ginebra in the best-of-seven title series to reach the mountaintop.
“I was thinking of retiring,” Erram admitted. “But I was reminded by Coach Chot that I have to stay loyal to my work. And I also don’t want to let people say that I’m a quitter.
“So I stayed loyal to my work and I have a great support system which is my teammates and my family. They kept advising me that I still have it. And it did show that I still got it,” he added.
In the 2023 Governors’ Cup Finals, Erram expressed displeasure over a heckler who he felt made below-the-belt remarks, and it seemed that it was in the back of the minds of Ginebra fans when the return match between the two teams was set.
The chants started in Game 4, and Erram looked like he took it in stride, nodding his head and egging the crowd to continue.
