Three more years as a Rain or Shine Elasto Painter for James ‘Big Game’ Yap

“The veteran, James ‘Big Game’ Yap finally seals the trading rumors by signing a 3 year contract with the Rain or Shine Elastopainters witnessed by Atty. Mamerto Mondragon and Boss Raymond Yu.” (Photo: Rain or Shine Elasto Painters/Facebook)

RoS co-owners Raymund Yu and Terry Que assured Yap that he was in good hands, telling the media, “ James is the face of this franchise and he will continue to remain as the face of this team for the next three years.” In addition, he also shared that he does not have access to social media and only learned of the buzz about a supposed trade through Yap himself, saying, “I don’t know where it came from, these are just rumors. From the start, when we got him, the plan is for Yap to end his career with the team.” Yu elaborated that “this could be Yap’s last contract because he’ll be around 40 by that time [of the contract ending].”

Two-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) James Yap is entering his 15th season in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and shared that he “hopes to win a title before [he] retires.” When asked about the talks of him becoming a politician, he simply stated in Filipino, “My focus is on the team and to get better as a basketball player. I hope to help them contend for playoff berths and possibly a title in the coming conferences.”

In the meantime, SMB further ended the rumors as governor Robert Non confirmed that they are keeping Terrence Romeo, as they already met with him and San Miguel Corporation (SMC) President and Chief Executive Officer Ramos S. Ang. Non said, “The first thing RSA did when he saw Terrence was he hugged him and told him ‘we’re both from FEU (Far Eastern University),” firmly concluding, “no reason for us to trade him, and we are not trading him.”