By ADRIAN STEWART CO
NLEX Road Warriors veteran center Paul Asi Taulava has finally called it a career after more than two decades of playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
According to Road Warriors head coach Frankie Lim, the end of NLEX’s campaign in the 2022-2023 PBA Season also signaled the conclusion of Taulava’s 24-year professional basketball career.
The 50-year-old Taulava only made one appearance this season, during NLEX’s 107-94 loss to NorthPort Batang Pier in the 2022-2023 PBA Commissioner’s Cup last November 9, 2022.
In that game, which allowed Taulava to tie Ginebra legend Robert Jaworski, Sr. for most PBA seasons played, he was held scoreless in close to five minutes of action.
Taulava will be leaving the league as a member of the 40 Greatest Players, one-time champion, one-time PBA MVP, one-time Best Player of the Conference, and 17-time PBA All-Star.
He arrived in the country in 1997 and played for Blu Detergent in the Philippine Basketball League (PBL) Vis-Min Cup from 1998 to 1999.
The Filipino-Tongan Taulava started his PBA career in 1999 as a direct hire by the Mobiline/Talk N’ Text franchise, where he won his lone PBA title and MVP award in 2003. He went on to play for Coca-Cola Tigers, Meralco Bolts, Air 21 Express, and the Road Warriors.
However, his PBA career was not that smooth from the start as he was slapped with a two-game ban in 2003 after he was tested positive for banned drugs during routine check-ups of players.
Taulava was indefinitely suspended in 2004 after the Department of Justice found out that he and five other Filipino-foreigners had irregular documents. He made his return to TNT a year later.
He left the PBA in 2012 after a failure in contract negotiations with the Bolts, as he went on to suit up for the San Miguel Beer-Philippines in the 2013 ASEAN Basketball League, where he won a championship and an MVP award. He returned to PBA in 2013.
Taulava was also a fixture in the national men’s basketball team, where he played from 2002 to 2011. He returned in 2015 for the FIBA Asia Champions Cup, in the Asian Games in 2018, and in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers in the same year./ASC, WDJ