Where is Jimmy Alapag now? From Mighty Mouse to Mighty Coach

Jimmy Alapag is one of the best-known Filipino basketball athletes here in the Philippines. However, he is now making his name known in other countries because of his love and dedication to basketball. Alapag is one of the gemstones of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) team, Talk and Text Tropang Texters, which is now known as Talk and Text Tropang Giga. But where is Jimmy Alapag now?

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The early life of Jimmy

First, let’s get to know Alapag a little more. Jim Olmedo Alapag, or Jimmy Alapag, is a Filipino-American basketball athlete. Despite having a mixed nationality, Jimmy’s parents, Crispin Alapag and Aurora Alapag, are both Filipino immigrants from Leyte. He was born in San Bernardino, California, on December 30, 1977, and is the youngest of his five other siblings.

Jimmy was always fond of basketball; he started playing at the young age of three (3) and was greatly influenced by his father, Crispin, and his older brother, Crispin Jr. It’s truly amazing how the support of your family for the things you love will shape you into who you are today. If it weren’t for this, there would be no The Mighty Mouse and The Captain, who raised the banner of Philippine basketball.

Basketball career

Before Jimmy played in the NBA, he was a collegiate player at the CSUSB (California State University San Bernardino) Coyotes. Here, he established himself as one of the top gunners and clutch three-point shooters on the team.

Coach Jong Uichico, a former head coach of the Philippine national team and a coach of several PBA teams, was interested in him as a result of his collegiate run. Coach Jong invited Alapag to try out for the national team for the 2002 Asian Games that will be held in Busan, South Korea. Alapag made the roster but missed several games because of a hand injury.

After the national team, Alapag was drafted to the PBA in 2003. The Talk and Text Tropang Texters offered him a contract worth 11 million pesos, where he played alongside Asi Taulava. During that year, Alapag quickly introduced himself when he won the three-point shootout during the 2003 PBA All-Star Weekend. Afterwards, his tandem with Big Man Asi bears fruit as expected. They beat the Coca-Cola Tigers in the 2003 All Filipino Cup Championship after trailing 0-2. Additionally, he won rookie of the year in a blowout to add to his first year’s accomplishments.

Another highlight of his basketball career was the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship. This was one of the best line-ups ever made and also the one that started the “Laban Pilipinas, PUSO” craze. They faced South Korea in the semifinals and managed to get the win. However, they lost to Iran in the Finals, clinching the second spot and bringing home the silver medal and a trip to Spain for the 2014 FIBA World Cup.

Coaching career

When Jimmy retired from the PBA, Coach Tab Baldwin, the head coach of Gilas at the time, immediately asked Alapag to join him and be the international team’s assistant coach. Then he became the Talk and Text Tropang Texters team consultant but soon left the position when he again played for the Meralco Bolts. After that season with Meralco, he resumed his coaching career and became the Bolts assistant head coach. Then he again became the assistant head coach of Gilas, this time under coach Chot Reyes.

Jimmy did not stop there; in 2017, he became the head coach of San Miguel Alab Pilipinas, which competed in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL). After being an assistant for several years, this was Alapag’s first major coaching role since he started his coaching career. During this run, he won his first ABL championship after defeating the Mono Vampire Basketball Club of Thailand in a best-of-five series.

However, Alapag fell short in his second season as Alab Pilipinas head coach. In his third season, they stood 10-6 just before the season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Another addition to his resume is becoming the assistant head coach of Gilas Pilipinas for the third time under coach Tim Cone; he also became an assistant head coach for the San Miguel Beermen, continuing his coaching career.

Then he decided to go international when he joined the coaching staff of the Sacramento Kings. Alapag asked Vlade Divac, a former NBA player and general manager of Sacramento at the time, for a coaching role. He was offered to help the Stockton Kings in the Summer League, which he willingly accepted. His first run with the Kings did not end well. The Kings didn’t make it to the G-League, which almost cost him his job. However, he returned for the next season as assistant head coach, where they snatched the W in the 2021 summer league championship.

Where is Jimmy now?

Because of his good run with the Stockton Kings, Jimmy Alapag has been promoted from being the G-league assistant coach to NBA development coach, joining Mike Brown’s coaching staff in Sacramento.

Alapag announced this via his Instagram account and said that this promotion is a dream come true.

“A DREAM COME TRUE… proud to announce I’ll be joining Coach Mike Brown and his staff as a Player Development Coach for the upcoming NBA season. Incredibly blessed and thankful for this opportunity.”

He didn’t forget to thank the management, Vivek Ranadivé, the Kings owner, Monte McNair, the Kings general manager, and Wes Wilcox, the Kings assistant general manager, for this opportunity. But most of all, he didn’t forget to thank his wife and children for their undying support of his career.