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JP Erram took the time to look at his new yellow jersey.
The 2020 PBA Philippines Cup restart was two days away and the TNT Tropang Giga ended their practice with team manager Gabby Cui distributing their new uniforms.
As his teammates quickly donned theirs, Erram put his on the ground and snapped a photo first. He then stood behind his teammates for a socially estranged photo.
“I have waited for this for so long,” he said in Filipino. “Back then, I didn’t even care if he played. I just wanted to wear a TNT shirt and sit on the bench. That would have been enough for me.”
During the 2013 PBA Draft, TNT selected Erram as the 15th general election. It took him by surprise when his agent said he could go down in the third round as he was coming off a knee injury. Erram did well, as TNT trained at the Moro Lorenzo Gymnasium on the Ateneo campus while he was still finishing his studies. He was given a practice player contract and was part of the scouting team that would emulate TNT’s opponents to prepare them for the games.
Erram learned from players like Ranidel De Ocampo, Harvey Carey and Kelly Williams, hoping that one day he could share the floor with them in a PBA game. However, it was not meant to be. At least not yet.
Unsurprisingly, Erram was left off TNT’s protected list when the PBA welcomed two expansion teams in 2014.
“Poy had a lot of potential even back then when I was a teammate,” said De Ocampo, who is now one of TNT’s assistant coaches. “He has good stature and good defensive skills. He really helped us as part of our scouting team. Unfortunately for him, we had a deep team and we were only able to protect 12 players.
Blackwater selected him 11th in the 2014 Dispersal Draft, after his TNT teammate Jai Reyes. Erram had a tough rookie season, but would flourish for the Elite, becoming an All-Star, the league’s leader in blocks, a member of the Mythical Second Team, and even the PBA Defensive Player of the Year.
He continued to draw attention until he was given the opportunity to play for Gilas Pilipinas led by coach Yeng Guiao, who finally seized the opportunity to have him play for the NLEX Road Warriors.
However, his stint at NLEX would be short as he landed with TNT after only one season.
“Putting on this shirt is a dream come true for me,” Erram said. “My wife and I used to talk about this because even if TNT couldn’t protect me back then, they saw the work I did and still made an effort to get me.”
Erram’s TNT debut was something he had always dreamed of. However, it didn’t turn out the way he envisioned. He was called for an unsportsmanlike foul early in the game and was sent off with 20 seconds remaining in the third quarter following a technical foul.
The last game he played also ended on a similar note. Playing for the Road Warriors, he was involved in a fight against Michael Qualls, imported from NorthPort Batang Pier, who sent him off. He was also suspended for his next game in the 2019 Governors’ Cup quarterfinals, a game where NLEX was eliminated.
Against the Alaska Aces in the opening game of the PBA Bubble, Erram finished with 4 points, eight rebounds and six assists in 16 minutes on the court. Luckily for him, RR Pogoy and Jayson Castro had exceptional performances with 45 and 28 points, respectively, to lead Tropang Giga to a tough 100-95 victory.
After the game, Erram was the first name Pogoy mentioned during his Best Player interview.
“I thank Poy because he was the one who helped me on my first basket,” he said, making sure his new teammate still felt like part of the victory, even if he wasn’t on the court.
This is what Erram is getting with TNT. It is a team that has built a culture of supporting each other. It started with Jimmy Alapag and it’s still there thanks to guys like Carey and Ryan Reyes.
Erram sometimes lets his emotions take over, but he has been working hard to control these outbursts. The leadership you’ll get from TNT veterans could help, but you need to realize that this team will be chasing a championship and they’ll need you to be on the court as much as possible.
“He has to be patient,” TNT head coach Bong Ravena said. “We will be here to support him. I know he gets frustrated sometimes because he is still adjusting to his role and learning how we play, but we are here for him. We will be patient with him, but he also has to be patient with himself.”
