The PBA finals tends to bring the best teams together after a long and hard-fought journey. It’s at this point everyone is experiencing some level of fatigue. Talent is an advantage, but this is the point where hard work beats talent. 

The players are feeling the effects of playing around three times a week and even those in the best of shape of their careers are not at 100 percent. Coaches are spent drawing out plans, watching game film, and managing more than a handful of personalities. 

And yet the player that had the biggest impact in Game 1 of the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup Finals was the oldest one to enter the court. 

Kelly Williams was living up to his jersey number as his energy was that of a 21-year old. From savvy putbacks and aggressive drives to the basket, Williams was all over the court juggling his offensive contributions with guarding nine-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo. 

TNT Tropang 5G head coach Chot Reyes has relied on Williams even before some UAAP and NCAA stars were born and more than two decades in, Williams continues to answer the call. The numbers have come and gone, especially as Williams was well into his 40s, but his steady presence has remained. 

The 2008 PBA MVP has experienced the highs and lows a professional basketball player can encounter in his career: winning championships, achieving personal milestones, enduring tough losses, and even facing health issues. Being diagnosed with thrombocytopenia could have made Williams a cautionary tale, but he has instead turned it into an opportunity to reassess and let his game age gracefully compared to peers that did not encounter the health scares he faced. Now, his health has not betrayed him for the most part, and he has repaid the faith the Tropang 5G placed in him not just with his ability to balance multiple roles, but also his reliability. 

To some extent, Williams sets an example by showing up every day to practice and the games despite what he has gone through and his status within TNT. It’s safe to say that it has influenced the likes of Simon Enciso, Glenn Khobuntin, and Henry Galinato Jr., who have been among the role players who have stepped up on various occasions. The Tropang 5G have been able to achieve some measure of success despite injuries to key players like RR Pogoy, Rey Nambatac, and Jason Castro because others have taken on the next-man-up mentality that Williams embodied during the second phase of his career. 

That being said, TNT Tropang 5G’s championship aspirations rest on the broad shoulders of Kelly Williams, who continues to make huge contributions as he approaches his mid-40s. Williams has shown that he will do whatever is asked of him and we will likely see him continue to play at his best for the foreseeable future. After all, chasing championships has given the 43-year old a new lease on life.