He made his name on the hardcourt by successfully coaching both collegiate and national basketball teams, but this PeopleAsia People of the Year 2013 awardee just brought home another title of a different sort. Former basketball coach Vincent “Chot” Reyes has been named the new president and CEO of TV5, replacing Emmanuel Lorenzana who retired from the post on Sept. 30.It’s a challenging job to take on that will surely rearrange his priorities and passions, and so PeopleAsia takes a look back at Chot’s days as a legendary basketball coach in this feature from the magazine’s December 2013 – January 2014’s People of the Year issue.
By JOSE PAOLO DELA CRUZÂ
“I grew up dreaming about basketball,†says Chot Reyes, who used to play ball in the streets of Malolos City, Bulacan as a child. And so, even before he graduated college from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1985, Chot didn’t waste time in making his childhood dreams come true. To the sidelines he immediately went, and from there he called the shots that would (unknowingly) turn him into basketball royalty.
Best known as the brains behind the developmental basketball team and FIBA Asia silver winners Smart Gilas Pilipinas, Chot started his career as a coaching staff at the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Juniors team during college. It wasn’t until 1990 when he joined the big league, as an assistant coach for Tim Cone’s Alaska Milkmen.Â
By 1993, at the young age of 29, Chot finally made his mark on the court. He became the first Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) coach to produce a champion on his first tournament (the All-Filipino Cup for Purefoods). It was also on that same year that he won Coach of the Year.
With over 25 years of professional basketball coaching under his belt, Chot has picked up some golden bits of knowledge. Experience hardened his resolve as a coach, as much as it softened his heart as a friend to his team. “I’m a very strict coach, I shout and I push when I’m on the court. But at the same time, I don’t keep my distance from the players.â€
Humility is also something he puts in high esteem. “If you’re a diva, you won’t make it to my team,†Chot warns tersely. “Coaching is not just about the technical aspect. It’s also about the ability to create meaningful relationships with the players, and make the best play out of it for the team,” he adds.
Tricks of the trade
When strategizing for games on the international court, Chot traced his roots, reminiscing the games he played on the streets and in barangay leagues (liga) as a kid. It was a kind of “training†ingrained within him, one he shared with many of his team members who also grew up playing Pinoy basketball on barangay courts and streetside hoops. It was the one thing everyone on the team had in common.
 So what is this all-Filipino style of basketball that Smart Gilas Pilipinas brought? “Simple bara-bara (freestyle),†says Chot, before erupting into hearty laughter.
“I mean, it’s a game that most of us in the team have played before and none of our competitors have ever tried. We were playing a game that was ours, and they had no clue what our next moves on the court will be,†he explains in Filipino, like a true kanto boy. Unlike the clinical basketball play, this style of Pinoy basketball is more intuitive, more dependent on the bonds that pull team members closer, rather than science and logic.
On the sidelines
These days, aside from his work with TV5’s sports division and his move up the TV network’s ladder, Chot is also part-owner of Toni & Guy, a franchise of the London-based salon he shares with fellow basketball coach Tim Cone. “Chot is very dedicated to his job. He even has a day job, but he manages to be equally passionate in everything he does,†says Chot’s wife Cherry.
He is also watching the fruits of his labor – and love – bloom from all sides. His four kids (Josh, Mosh, Isaiah and Rebekah) are all growing up to be worthy of his pride. His eldest, Josh, seems to have taken on his father’s interest as well. And with that he scores a grand slam, an inimitable winning shot both in his career and his life.
(Photography by HAROLD TAPAN)Â
