Will ‘Greatest’ inclusion ease pain of Racela’s Busan nightmare?

If there’s something that Olsen Racela wants to correct over the course of his long and fruitful career, it’s definitely the two free throws that he missed in the crucial stretch of their 68-66 loss to South Korea in the semifinals of the men’s basketball event of the Busan Asian Games in 2002.

The debacle was so unforgettable that sideliners had to coin a fitting moniker to remind them of the pain they suffered when Racela bricked his charities before Lee Sang Min scored on a Hail Mary shot from halfcourt to send the Filipinos to one of their worst defeats in history.

Racela admitted that he has yet to completely forget the “Ghost of Busan” and he hopes that his inclusion in the 50 Greatest Players when the Philippine Basketball Association celebrates its 50th Anniversary on 9 April at the Smart Araneta Coliseum will somehow ease the pain of that heartbreaking chapter.

Leading the special panel tasked to screen those who deserve to be part of the latest batch of “greats” are former PBA commissioner Reunald “Sonny” Barrios, four-time PBA Most Valuable Player Ramon Fernandez (MVP), 1979 MVP Fortunato “Atoy” Co, five-time champion coach Dante Silverio, basketball analysts Joaquin Henson and Andy Jao and sportswriters Ding Marcelo, Al Mendoza and Nelson Beltran.

Despite those botched free throws, Racela’s career is littered with achievements, giving him a strong case to be part of the elite circle of PBA heavyweights.

Tapped by Purefoods in the second round of the 1993 Rookie Draft, the former Ateneo de Manila University court general played for the Hotdogs and San Miguel Beer in which he won nine PBA titles with six All-Star Game, two Mythical First Team, and three Mythical Second Team selections in an 18-year career that ended in 2011.

The San Miguel franchise appreciates his contributions so much that his jersey No. 17 was retired together with that of other league greats like No. 8 of Allan Caidic, No. 14 of Hector Calma, No. 12 of Yves Dignadice, No. 19 of Mon Fernandez and No. 29 of Arwind Santos.

Interestingly, Racela, who is now 54 years old and is coaching University of Perpetual Help System Dalta while helping Tim Cone at Barangay Ginebra, is missing a key trophy in his collection, leading to a controversial snub when the league feted its 40 Greatest Players in 2014.

“I hope it’s not true, but it is what it is. We didn’t win an MVP award so our slots (in the 40 Greatest Players) were not automatic,” Racela said in a 2014 interview upon learning that he and former teammate Danny Siegle were not part of the league’s 40 Greatest Players.

“Of course, I’m hoping to be included because when the 25 (Greatest Players) were announced, I was still playing. I can’t imagine myself being there. But now that I’m already retired, I also want to be part of the greatest list.”

Racela noted that he was already 41 when he retired, which was very rare during the time when grit, brute strength and physicality were still the norm in Asia’s first ever professional basketball league.

“Too bad because of all the guards, aside from (Sonny) Jaworski, I played the longest,” Racela said, keeping his finger crossed to be finally nominated in the next batch of league legends.

“I hope I make it when they announce the 50.”