The Final Score: James Yap is back to being James Yap

Time is running out in the third quarter of Game 5 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals.   A bullet pass sends the ball to James Yap. James is on the left side of the court. He’s just outside the three-point line, right where he wants to be, right in front of a defender who can only raise an arm and watch. He wraps the ball with his monstrous hands. He looks at the clock. He measures the distance.   A moment we’ve seen so many times before unfolds.   Each time James takes a three-point shot, there’s that split-second of silence. The crowd noise melts. The audience gasps. It seems to last forever. He jumps off the floor. Then, he just sits there, in mid-air. He looks like he’s fading away, but he is not.   I recall a conversation before Game 2. James only scored 9 points in Game 1. So I asked about the single-digit performance. He gave a most polite answer. “Hindi ko iniisip kung mag-score ako ng marami,” he said. “Basta manalo ang team, okay na ako.”   The sequence always transpires in slow motion. The way Quentin Tarantino would’ve envisioned it. With just heartbeats remaining in the period, James decides to shoot. When he’s in the proper rhythm, he never pushes the ball. It obediently leaves his hands. Like it’s a mutual understanding between spheroid and superstar.   I refused to believe that it was fine with James that he constantly played like he was not James. I know he wasn’t lying when he said it didn’t bother him. But he wasn’t being completely truthful either. It must have burned him inside. It should have.   James releases. The ball takes flight. It becomes a seminal balance of physics and fine arts. His body parts move on cue. Maybe this explains why his misses are just as thrilling.   The process repeats itself.   Even during the follow-through. Elbows are still in place. Chin still faces the target. Eyes are always on the prize.   “Ako naman kasi hindi ako selfish na player,” James insisted. “Kung sino yung sa tingin namin na mismatch yung bantay niya, doon kami pupunta. Kasi ako naman wala naman ako inggit. Kahit hindi ako top-scorer, okay naman sa akin.”   Just as James shoots, you spot that subtle front kick. It helps hold the elegant, almost regal, pose. It signals the beginning of anticipation. It separates him from all other shooters in the PBA.   Ultimately, it gives the whole artistic movement its signature style. Eddie Van Halen has his guitar solo. American Idol’s Randy Jackson has his “Yo.” James Yap has his jump shot. It is his and his alone.   James connects. The crowd erupts.   Before James scored 25 points in Game 2, 21 points in Game 3 and a conference-high 30 points in Game 5, long before he made a buzzer-beating three-point shot to end a third quarter and highlight B-MEG’s last victory, I had to know:   “Wala ka pa naman doon sa frustrated na level?”   “Well, wala,” James replied. “Wala talaga.” – GMA News