ONE of the PBA’s long-time stars has called it a career.
Veteran playmaker Alex Cabagnot retired yesterday from the pro league after a short comeback stint with Converge.
“Thank you, ‘Cabaggie.’ You may be hanging up the jersey, but your legacy remains both in the Converge FiberXers and in the PBA. Thank you, Alex Cabagnot,” the team said in a social media post yesterday.
Cabagnot, 42, made his way back to Asia’s first play-for-pay league last season for the FiberXers after seeing action for the Goyang Sono Skygunners in Korea from 2023 to 2024, and for the Taiwan Mustangs last year.
He suited up for two conferences for the young Converge quintet, at times providing the much-needed veteran savvy and averaging 4.21 points, 2.07 rebounds, and 2.36 assists in 14 games in the last Governors’ Cup.
But in the mid-season Commissioner’s Cup, Cabagnot only played three games and scored just one point in the eliminations.
Cabagnot won nine titles while playing for San Miguel Beer and was part of the Beermen’s dreaded “Death Five” along with reigning eight-time MVP June Mar Fajardo, Marcio Lassiter, Chris Ross, and Arwind Santos.
The 6-foot floor general, drafted No. 2 overall by the defunct Sta. Lucia ball club in 2005, was named finals MVP in the 2017 Commissioner’s Cup, two years after he also bagged the PBA Press Corps’ Comeback Player of the Year.
Cabagnot also had stints with Coca-Cola, Burger King, GlobalPort, and Terrafirma.
Known for his high basketball IQ and clutch showing, Cabagnot is set to bring these to another team—not as a player anymore—after he reportedly joined the University of the East as an assistant to new Red Warriors coach Chris Gavina.
