Jimmy Alapag is known for his lethal 3-pointers from way beyond the arc, excellent passing and play making ability, and an intelligent decision making in the game, especially in the final seconds on the clock. Despite his small size, Alapag takes advantage of his speed and agility to break down his defender and pass it on his teammate or score by the lay-up.
Jim Olmedo Alapag born December 30, 1977 (46 years old) is a Filipino-American former professional basketball player. He serves as a head coach for the San Miguel Alab Pilipinas of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL). He is nicknamed “The Mighty Mouse” and “The Captain”.
Jimmy Alapag is the youngest of six siblings and his parents are both Filipino immigrants from Leyte. He was born and raised in San Bernardino, California. He said his greatest influence in playing basketball was his father and older brother Crispin. He started playing basketball at the age of 3.
He played collegiate basketball at California State University, San Bernardino, where he established himself as a clutch three-point shooter. In 2002, he had his first crack of Philippine basketball when he was invited by then-national team coach Jong Uichico to try out for the Philippine National Team bound for 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea.
Jimmy Alapag was selected 10th overall pick in the 2003 PBA draft by the Talk ‘N Text Phone Pals and was considered the “steal of the draft”. Later on, Alapag formed a dynamic duo with slotman Asi Taulava to lead the Phone Pals to the All-Filipino Cup Championship by beating the Coca-Cola Tigers in the finals, after overcoming the 0-2 deficit to the Tigers and winning the last four games in the series to capture its first ever title. At the end of the 2003 season, he won the Rookie of the Year award by a huge margin after averaging 14.5 points, 7.02 assists and 6.54 rebounds per outing while shooting a decent clip of 35.4 percent from the three-point region.
In the 2004–05 PBA season, Jimmy Alapag continued his remarkable play by winning his second mythical first team selection and co-MVP honors with teammate Taulava in the All-Star Game held in Cebu. He also led the Phone Pals to two straight Finals appearance but failed to win another championship against the Barangay Ginebra Kings in the Philippine Cup and against San Miguel Beermen in the Fiesta Conference.
In the 2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup Finals, Jimmy Alapag would add another championship ring by helping the Tropang Texters vanquish the Alaska Aces in a grueling seven game series. He did the same trick in the 2010–11 PBA Philippine Cup Finals against San Miguel after beating the Beermen 4 games to 2 and shared the Finals MVP honors with Jayson Castro. In the 2011 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals, he once again led the Tropang Texters to their back-to-back championships against Brgy. Ginebra, with him and Jayson Castro again both awarded as co-finals MVP. His team made it again in the 2011 PBA Governors’ Cup Finals only to lose to the Petron Blaze Boosters in seven games. At season’s end, he was minted as the season’s Most Valuable Player, beating the likes of Arwind Santos and Mark Caguioa in the MVP race.
Jimmy Alapag played his first ever World Cup stint in Spain. He helped his team to win its first World Cup victory for the first time in 40 Years, beating Senegal. Despite his announcement of retiring from the national team after playing in the world cup, he accepted another offer after Jayson Castro was declared unable to play for the Asian Games in Incheon. During the tournament, the national team was expected to win gold because of their performance in the World Cup but went on to a disappointing run, losing three games in a row against Iran, Qatar, and the host, South Korea, respectively. At the end of the tournament, he retired from international basketball.
