Andray Blatche eyes championship with SGA as retirement looms

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Andray Blatche seeks nothing but a championship in what could be his final tournament as he reinforces Strong Group Athletics in the Dubai International Basketball Championship

MANILA, Philippines – If Andray Blatche is truly hanging up his spurs soon, he wants go out with a bang.

Blatche eyes nothing but a championship in what could be his final tournament as he reinforces Strong Group Athletics in the Dubai International Basketball Championship slated from January 24 to February 2.

Already 38 years old, Blatche is seriously considering retirement following a 20-year professional career that saw him play nine seasons in the NBA and anchor Gilas Pilipinas as its naturalized player for five years.

“I want to go out there, because this might be my last time putting on a jersey, and get a championship and make SGA proud again,” Blatche told reporters after practice on Sunday, January 19.

Blatche is no stranger to winning the Dubai tiff as he helped steer Mighty Sports Philippines to a dominant title run in 2020.

He almost repeated as champion when SGA reached the final last year, but joy turned into sorrow for Blatche as they fell to Al Riyadi on a buzzer-beater.

It was a heartbreaking end Blatche refuses to experience again.

“To lose by a buzzer-beater, that definitely hurt. And we had to sit there and watch them celebrate for about two hours. That definitely left a bad taste in my mouth and I want to go out there and return the favor,” said Blatche.

Blatche will team up with former NBA star DeMarcus Cousins and other imports Malachi Richardson and Terry Larrier.

Leading the local cast for SGA are Mikey Williams, Jason Brickman, Rhenz Abando, and Dave Ildefonso. 

“We have a great group of guys, a lot of shooters, a lot of talent, good bigs, good guards,” said Blatche. – Rappler.com