Another PBA legend has moved to the great beyond.
PBA Hall of Famer Danny Florencio, a scoring machine in his heyday, passed away Sunday in the United States, four days after a suffering a massive stroke. He was 70.
Former teammate Rino Salazar, now based in Las Vegas, Nevada, was among those who announced Florencio's demise on social media.
"No farewell words were spoken, no time to say goodbye. You were gone before we knew it and only God knows why. We're praying for your family during this time of loss," said Salazar, among friends attending Florencio's 70th birthday last Sept. 5.
PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said they will observe a moment of silence for Florencio on Wednesday at the resumption of the PBA Philippine Cup elimination round at the MOA Arena.
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Florencio was inducted to the PBA Hall of Fame in 2007. Earlier in 2000, he was among the 25 greatest players feted by the league during its silver anniversary bash.
For Marcial, Florencio is among the best five PBA players.
"At his finest, pasok siya sa top five ko," said Marcial. "Noon panahon niya sa Toyota when his career was about to end, nandon pa rin yung mga great moves niya. Biruin mo nasa kaliwa siya, kaya niyang pihitin ang katawan niya sa ere para tumira sa kanan."
Florencio starred for Seven-Up and Toyota before playing his farewell PBA season with Galerie Dominique in 1983.
The 6-foot-9 guard was said to be PBA's original Skywalker and Aerial Voyager before the Samboy Lims and Vergel Meneseses came along.
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And he was shooting the lights out during his finest playing years from his UST days, with YCO and Crispa in the MICAA, with the national team and to his PBA stint.
As a tremendous scorer, Florencio twice led the league in scoring average. In 1977 with 7-Up, he averaged a whopping 32.3 points a game - a record that stands up to this moment. The closest was Chip Engelland's 29.0 with NCC in 1984.
He scored at least 50 points four times and at least 40 six times. On his birthday in 1981, he became the ninth player to reach the 5,000-point plateau.
As a national player, he's best remembered for playing the hero's role in the Philippines' nerve-wracking 83-80 win over South Korea for the 1967 ABC Championship in Seoul.
Florencio played in two Olympic games, emerging the second best scorer for the Philippines in the 1968 Mexico Games (11.2 points behind Jun Papa's 15.0) and in the 1972 Munich Games (13.1 behind Jimmy Mariano's 13.9).(SB)
