ANTERO “Terry” Saldaña played for 18 years and was one of the PBA’s first iron men. But his life was never the same after his heydays and the final buzzer sounded on him last Wednesday.
Saldaña passed away due to a lingering kidney illness. He was 65.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone was among those who expressed sadness over the demise of Saldaña, a great player who showed great grit and tenacity.
“So sorry to hear about Terry Saldaña’s passing,” Cone said on Twitter late Wednesday night. “I remember him well in those Ginebra and Swift days. He was so hard to stop around the basket.
“I’ll remember him for coming back from his gruesome injury. It took a lot of character to do that. NSD (Never Say Die), Terry,” he added.
A product of Letran High School and University of Santo Tomas, the 6-foot-3 Saldaña, dubbed the “Plastic Man” due to his length, was a key cog in Toyota’s two title wins in 1982.
He later played for Ginebra, becoming a mainstay of coach Robert Jaworski’s popular squad in the late 90s; Alaska, Pop Cola, Shell, and Batangas in the MBA, before winding up his stint in Asia’s first play-for-pay league with Red Bull.
In all, Saldaña won five pro league crowns.
In 2018, Saldana was part of Wang’s Basketball’s coaching staff in the PBA D-League.
