PBA: Jayson Castro proud of reaching 10K points after previous injury

Jayson Castro reached another milestone in his decorated career on Wednesday after scoring his 10,000th point during TNT’s 96-93 win over NLEX.

Castro became the 17th local player and 18th overall in league history to achieve the feat after sinking a free throw in the third quarter.

“Masaya kasi nu’ng nakita ko kung sinong mga nandoon [sa list] and napasama ako doon, parang bigla akong naging proud sa sarili ko,” Castro said as he joined the likes of Robert Jaworski, Nelson Asaytono, Jojo Lastimosa, and Jerry Codiñera in the list.

“At the same time talagang inalagaan ko ‘yung sarili ko para ma-achieve ‘yun. At the same time, makatulong sa teammates ko.”

Jayson Castro is now part of the PBA’s 10,000-point club as he scored 14 points in TNT’s 96-93 win vs twice-to-beat NLEX in the QF @gmasportsph pic.twitter.com/yzaCT7pPuF

— JK Carandang (@jk_carandang) May 13, 2026

The milestone came nearly a year after Castro suffered a knee injury that sidelined him until his return last March.

“‘Yung injury na ‘yun, na-realize ko na kailangan ko pa alagaan katawan ko. Gusto ko pa manalo ng championship, ‘yun ang ultimate goal. Pero siyempre hindi naman every conference nananalo, pero isa ring way ‘yun para magpalakas kasi sa past, dami kong nararamdaman na injury na binabalewala ko. So this time, 'yung katawan ko inaalagaan ko talaga para ma-achieve tong ganitong milestone sa basketball career ko.”

TNT head coach Chot Reyes said he is proud of Castro’s journey since joining the franchise in 2008.

“That’s recognition that’s long coming. [I’m] very proud of his journey kasi kung maalala n’yo, we made a risky move when we traded a guy named Jay Washington. When I got to Talk ’N Text, basically he was our best player but we made that move to get to be in a position to draft Jayson Castro,” Reyes said.

“More than the award really, what I’m proud of is his journey — from that young guy starting off with us to his evolution.”

TNT will have another chance to reach the semifinals as it faces twice-to-beat NLEX in a do-or-die game on Saturday.

—GMA News