The Final Score: What is Ginebra's Little Robbie Labagala doing in the PBA Finals?

His name thundered out of the loudspeakers, "Rob Labagala!" He was the first player introduced during the traditional call-outs before Game 1. He was out there as a player for the league's most popular team, in the championship series of the PBA. The doubters were still stunned. Si Robert? Yung maliit? Yung anak ni Ed? How absurd. Back-track to March 1984. Ed, who stood no taller than 5-foot-4, and his wife, who was five months pregnant, walked around Ed's office and bumped into officemate and good friend Freddie Manzon. "Pare kung lalake lang ito, sigurado player na ito," Ed, referring to his future baby boy, proudly told Freddie. Freddie humorously fired back, "Ang yabang mo ah." When people start belittling your chances before you're even born, disbelief is normal. "Kasi naniwala ako," Ed passionately shared to me, like he's giving a testimonial in church. "I'm very positive. Ginawa namin naman ano dapat gawin. Kasi sabi nga nila, kung hihintayin mo lang mahulog yung bunga sa puno, walang mangyayari. Aakyatin mo yun." Back where it started, in Barangay Tanke in Talisay, Cebu, father and son held on to shared dreams while people around them held on to strong doubts. The verdict on Rob; at a very lean 5-foot-7, masyado kasi maliit, hindi mukhang basketball player, huwag nang umasa. Rob wasn't even recruited to play for his own barangay. But Ed had complete faith in his son. Rob had complete faith in his game. Rob was the non-star in star-studded UE teams during the James Yap and Bonbon Custodio eras. He was the small player given minimal chance to make it big. He marched on, played for what felt like 200 teams in every league he could join, waited for the chance no one was supposed to give. Ginebra, of all teams, gave him a shot. Jay-Jay Helterbrand stepped aside. Rob stepped in. Fans howled in wonder, "Who is this 26-year-old rookie???!" But the Hobbit with a jump-shot showed grit. Ed, after all, taught him how to persevere. Fast-forward to March 2011. Rob played in his first PBA game. Basketball fans back in Talisay were surprised to see Little Robbie's face on television, to watch him score two three-pointers in a Ginebra uniform. "Sabi ng mga kababayan ko sa akin after the game 'Sorry, akala namin kasi hindi makakarating sa PBA si Robert,'" Ed fondly recalls. "Sabi ko sa kanila 'There's nothing impossible as long as you wish, as long as you work very hard.'" I have a confession. Nobody calls him Little Robbie. I just made it up because it sounds catchier. At this point, however, Ed and Rob will probably let me say Little Robbie all season long. Because as Little Robert, nobody believed he could contribute to Ginebra's victory in Game 2 of the Finals. Maybe as Little Robbie, he'll make everyone, even his Tito Freddie Manzon, finally believe in what the Little Labagalas knew all along. - GMA News