Sports Weekly Magazine
April 23-30, 1976
Pyke Jocson
Whatever Big J wants, Big J gets. And that’s how he wants it done…He is Big J and he wants to act big. That’s his privilege.
Robert Jaworski’s leap from a gawky, awkward neighborhood basketeer (in Pandacan where he spent the bigger part of his growing-up years, he was known at t--) to an adored basketball god, is indeed dazzling, if not confusing.
And even Toyota’s premier sentinel, it seems, is confused on whether the many good and big things that are coming his way, are true or unreal.
Robert Jaworski, in the more than ten years that he has been on the scene, punctuated by controversies and suspensions due to a bull-like hardcourt temper, has, as a basketball idol, acquired a lot of things: stability, a house and lot, an expensive car, a once-in-a-while movie appearance, lots of friends and enormous popularity.
As an acclaimed basketball player, he, being in the magic circle of local hoopla’s top three, more than deserves the good and the expensive things that have come his way, and the public adulation, he alone perhaps can stir.
When one talks of excellence in basketball, one would most likely talk about Jaworski. And he simply couldn’t be Big J for nothing.
“Robert Jaworski: Love Him or leave Him,” cried one sports monthly magazine, while a weekly mag reported: “How Big is Big J?” All these colorful and sort-of-controversial heads lead to only one thing: Jaworski is a hot copy.
Like what happened at the Sarmiento gym last Monday, Jaworski, in his most natural mood, refused to be photographed. His first alibi, said with a deceiving smile, was he didn’t like his shirt (it carried the name puma); when the suggestion for him to go naked waist-up came, he shook his head in disapproval; when a teammate offered a Toyota shirt, he simply shrugged his shoulder and pouted.
Whatever Big J wants, Big J gets. And that’s how he wants it done. Never mind if he appears big-headed. Never mind if he sounds uncooperative. Never mind if he hurts the people around him.
He is Big J and he wants to act and move big. That’s his privilege.
He hinted that he didn’t look okay that afternoon, a mild case of star complex. But it was a simple photo session. Or, was he thinking he would be posing for famed painter Oscar Zalameda?
If one would recall, Jaworski thanked the members of the press who had helped him during his agonizing months as a basketball castoff after figuring in a melee which involved, aside from him, Big Boy Reynoso, and referees Obias and Cruz.
We would like to think that the fateful incident, his being banned for life and later on reinstated, would change him, even a bit.
For a while, he appeared humble, giving in to interviews and pictorials as meek as a lamb.
But while many had thought that Jaworski had changed for the better, a few refused to yield. “The Big J’s true arrogant self will show,” they alleged.
And like that afternoon, we were refused of a simple request, Jaworski showed his true self, his true color with nose tilted high.
Arnaiz never acted this way. Adornado is always cooperative.
And if one were to consider the age difference among the three, one would most likely conclude that the arrogance would come from Arnaiz or Adornado, the two being much younger. One would always say that Jaworski has mellowed.
But no, is this a sign of insecurity on Jaworski’s part?
But we’d like to be fair to the Big J.
Jaworski’s star has reached its peak. The errors that used to be synonymous with his name have all been erased and what is left is an able, unselfish teamman who would rather share his hardcourt glory to anybody deserving in the team. He no longer bulls his way for the basket. He has learned to take his shots only when it is necessary. And what’s more, he has learned to control his temper, that volcanic vice that separates the young from the veteran, the pro from the amateur.
And Jaworski is a veteran and a pro.
How we unshed, he could deal with people with the understanding of a veteran and the sophistication of a pro.