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The Philippine basketball community lost a legend, a great inspiration to many young athletes, when it was announced that multi-titled PBA legend Avelino “Samboy” Lim had passed away on December 23, 2023. He was 61.

Dubbed by basketball experts and fans as “The Skywalker”, Samboy Lim had etched his name into the history books.

Aside from his stellar career in the PBA, he also represented the country on the international arena. He was part of the national team that won the silver medal at the 1990 Beijing Asian Games and helped the country bag the bronze medal at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games.

In a Dec. 27 report by Unang Balita, the loved ones of Samboy fondly recalled the memories that the basketball icon left behind.

His former wife, Atty. Darlene Berberabe described the basketball star as a “generous person” saying, “Maalala ko siya bilang isang napakabuting tao. Mabuting ama, he was always giving and generous of himself.”

“Madali siya magbigay ng oras niya, ng payo niya, ng sarili niya. At lahat ng makakaya niyang ibigay,” she added.

Meanwhile, Jamie Lim wanted to follow in the footsteps of her dad, who always stayed humble despite his enduring popularity.

She told Unang Balita, “I always just wanted to be like him, kasi he is very down to earth and very humble po. Even though he is like a superstar and he works very hard, kaya I'll remember him that way po.”

Samboy was a proud alum of the Colegio de San Juan de Letran and won three championships for the school (1982, 1983, and 1984).

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