‘The height, I was surprised’: Bimby’s lug and 13 surprises James Yap

When a photo of James Carlos Aquino Yap Jr. was posted on social media, many were surprised at how tall he is now, including his father, two-time PBA MVP James Yap from Rain or Shine.

At age 13, “Bimby” is 6 feet tall.

“The height also surprised me,” Yap said when contacted by Manila Bulletin Monday night. “The last time I saw him he was still small, so now he is tall.”

Yap, the 38-year-old PBA superstar, said it’s been a while since he last saw his son with his ex-wife, actress and host Kris Aquino.

When asked if he sees his son following in his footsteps, Yap said it is up to Bimby what he wants to become in the future.

“Because what he wants is for me to support him,” Yap said. “But for example, let’s say I’ll teach him or ask him for advice, that’s fine with me … we still support him.”

“Of course we also want someone to follow in our footsteps as a parent. But if others want it, that’s all we support. “

Yap said that Bimby’s height at his age is quite surprising compared to when the Escalante native, Negros Occidental, was 13.

“When he was 13 he was a bit tall … around 5’9” but small compared to his height now, “he said.

A few years ago when Yap said he gave his son a complete set of basketball.

“I gave him a ring as a gift so he could shoot. I still teach before … there is a turn to shoot. But he was young at the time, so I can’t say if he’s interested in basketball, ”Yap said.

“Because when I was only seven years old, I was interested in basketball,” Yap added.

After attending Iloilo Central Commercial in high school, Yap prepared for Universidad del Este, where he won the UAAP MVP in 2003. In 2004, Purefoods voted him No. 2 overall in the PBA Rookie Draft.

Yap became one of the best players in league history, winning seven championships, including a Grand Slam with the Purefoods franchise in 2014, was named Finals MVP four times, made the All-Star Team 16 times and was named 40 Best PBA Players in 2015.