Calvin Oftana shrugs off fatigue, jet lag from Gilas duty to help TNT overcome Rain or Shine

Fresh from his national team duty, Calvin Oftana proved there's no slowing down. 

The 6-foot-5 sharpshooter was coming off a grueling schedule with Gilas Pilipinas that saw them play five games in a span of nine days against some of the best teams in the world. 

But even fatigue — and jet lag — couldn't stop his love for the game.

He played a crucial role for his mother club TNT as the Tropang Giga drew first blood against Rain or Shine, 88-84, in Game 1 of their best-of-seven semifinals series in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup on Wednesday. 

"Wala pang tulog. Jet-lagged pa rin pero gano'n talaga eh, sakripisyo kasi mahal ko ang basketball eh. Kailangan ko ring gampanan 'yung trabaho ko sa Talk 'n Text," Oftana said. 

"Dumating kami ala-una so nakarating ako ng bahay mga 2:30 na. Nag-practice pa rin ako. Practice namin 9, so umalis ako ng bahay mga 7 kahapon. Ginusto mo 'yung larong basketball eh so kailangan mong magsakripisyo. Mahal ko 'yung basketball at 'yung trabaho ko."

Oftana made sure to walk the talk, dropping 22 points on 6-of-8 from the three-point range while also grabbing four rebounds, three assists, and two steals. 

His production saw an improvement from the past two games with Gilas at the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers. Against Chinese Taipei, the former NCAA MVP was held scoreless while he finished with eight markers, one rebound, and one assist against New Zealand as the Filipinos fell in both outings. 

Oftana, though, said there were only minimal adjustments after missing the past two weeks of training with TNT. 

"Same way kasi ilang taon na ako sa TNT. Small adjustment lang naman 'yung gagawin and alam ko naman na 'yung sistema namin and hindi naman sila nagkulang mag-update sa Viber group namin," he added. 

"Siguro nasanay na rin kasi 'yung mga travel namin, parang nasanay na rin 'yung katawan ko."

—JKC, GMA Integrated News