Returning from an ACL injury is a major challenge for any athlete. Kevin Alas has had to do it three times.
If the measure of an athlete’s perseverance is his ability to bounce back from a serious injury, then Kevin Alas is probably the most unbreakable PBA player of all time.
Three times the NLEX Road Warriors guard has torn his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), and three times he has gone through surgery, painful rehabilitation, and mental challenges to return to the court.
An ACL injury is one of the most-feared in all of sports. Some athletes never fully recover, and almost all must face the prospect of playing in mortal fear of re-injuring themselves. To go through all that even once is an imposing challenge – both physically and mentally – for any athlete. Three times? That’s Rocky-level indomitable spirit.
“I’m just really grateful to God that I’m back because it’s my third comeback,” Kevin told The GAME in an exclusive interview after team practice. “I know it’s not easy, but I’m just really grateful that I’m back.
“And I consider myself very blessed because I mean, one ACL (injury), the process is very, very hard. Especially mentally, especially after your surgery. The first two months are the hardest because you cannot even bend your knees. Your muscles shrink. It’s like you’re learning how to walk back to zero.
“So, it happened to me three times. I’m here right now playing again. I’m just really grateful and I know I’m super blessed that I’m still able to play.”
Three Strikes At Ynares
It was March 18, 2018 when Kevin Alas first tore the ACL in his right knee in a game against the Magnolia Hotshots at the Ynares Center in Antipolo. He returned to action just 10 months later, but after just five games, on February 2, 2019, he tore the same ACL again while playing against the Meralco Bolts, again at the Ynares Center.
Alas made another full recovery from the second ACL tear, and while he went through a few minor injuries here and there, his knees were relatively okay for the next few years. Until November 18 of last year, that is, when this time he tore the ACL in his left knee in a game against the Terrafirma Dyip. The venue? Again, the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
On Tuesday, December 3, or around a year and two weeks since his third ACL injury, Kevin was back on the court, scoring two points in 10 minutes in an NLEX win over – ironically – Terrafirma.
Kevin is praying that this is the last time he will have to make a comeback from an ACL injury, because there are only so many times an athlete can have an ACL properly reconstructed.
“Yeah, actually, in 2018, it was the right ACL. In 2019, it was still the right ACL,” he recalls. “Last year, it was the left ACL. There are two areas where the ACL can be harvested, the hamstring tendon or the patellar tendon. So I’m praying and hoping that this will be the last one because I might not be able to harvest the ACL anymore.”
This may seem like a strange thing to say, but in a way Alas has been lucky with his ACL tears. As mentioned earlier, many athletes never come back at all from this injury. Kevin’s dad Louie, for instance, suffered the same injury in the early 1990s and was never able to play in the PBA.
Others make it back but aren’t quite the same anymore, former NBA star Derrick Rose being the most famous example.
In Kevin’s case, he feels he actually came back stronger after his second tear.
“The first time, I was afraid that I might be less explosive, less strong. The second time, I feared that too, that I might be less strong and less explosive. But by God’s grace, after my second ACL (tear), I think I played better before my pre-injury. So I’m hoping that it will still be the same after my third ACL (tear).”
The numbers do bear him out. In the three seasons after his second ACL tear, Alas upped his scoring averages to 16.2, 14.2, and a career-high 16.7 points per game.
It’s still too early to tell how this third comeback will go. The Road Warriors are in no rush and plan on bringing Kevin back slowly but surely.
“I’m not worried about Kevin’s physical condition,” said NLEX coach Jong Uichico, who took over from Frankie Lim while Alas was out. ‘He takes care of his body very well. That’s why we’re trying to ease him in, set up the system. Of course, he hasn’t been playing for a year.
“So, little by little. Last game, he played 10 minutes. Decent naman. We don’t want to hurry him. I’ve coached Kevin also before in the earlier Gilas, so I know how he plays. I know what he can give to the table. So, I don’t think he will have a hard time adjusting to the players and to NLEX.”
Kevin is also going along with the team’s plan, and for now is focused on helping the team in other ways.
“Coach Jong is breaking me in little by little. I’m hoping that I can still be, if not the same, maybe better. Not statistically, but in other aspects, like leadership, a facilitator, whatever.”
Counting His Blessings
Despite all these torn ACLs, Kevin Alas knows he still has plenty to be thankful for. He was part of the Gilas team that made history at the Hangzhou Asian Games by winning the Philippines’ first gold medal in men’s basketball in 61 years. And only recently, he and his wife Selina became parents to their first child.
“The injuries, yes, it’s hard,” he admits. “I wanted to play, but at the same time, a lot of blessings came to me. For example, my wife got pregnant, then we had our first daughter. I’m just grateful to my wife as well because with all my three ACLs, she’s the one who supports me, sacrificing everything.”
Having a father who also went through the same thing also helps, especially when putting things in perspective.
“My dad is my number one supporter and number one critic. He encourages me not to rush it. He knows because he’s been through an ACL (injury) before. Maybe, I’m blessed. I mean, I’m blessed because medicine, science, it’s more advanced compared to his time before.
“If you had an ACL before, maybe it’s career-ending. So right now, the ACL, of course, it’s still really hard to go through. But I’m really blessed that this happened to me at a time when doctors are advanced, physiotherapists are advanced, and everything.”
Kevin is also grateful for the support system in place among former and current PBA players. He revealed that during his first ACL tear, several other players who suffered the same injury privately reached out to him and offered words of encouragement.
That type of support meant a lot to Alas, and now he pays it forward to other players who have also torn their ACLs.
“I try to reach out to Jeremiah Gray, Jerom Lastimosa,” he said. “Because when I was injured, there were PBA players and even retired ones who reached out to me. And I really appreciated that.”
The Third Comeback
The Road Warriors currently have a rather good guard rotation, with Robert Bolick, Matt Nieto, Baser Amer, and Ritchie Rodger. For now, distributing minutes likely won’t be too much of a problem for Uichico as he eases Alas slowly back into game shape. The multi-titled coach said he will cross the bridge when he gets there once Kevin is fully back. It will likely be a happy problem.
“I haven’t really gotten to think about that,” he said. “We will play it by ear as the season goes on, as the conference goes on, and a longer playing time. Then, we’ll figure things out.”
At 33, Kevin Alas realizes he’s no longer a spring chicken, and this third comeback might not necessarily follow the same path as the first two. Regardless, he will do what whatever he can to return to competitive level and at the same time help his team in other ways.
“Maybe it’s more of a leadership role now, trying to encourage and teach the younger guys, he said. “Because I don’t know when my rhythm will return to the normal routine.”
Maybe everything is really coming full circle for Kevin, for as a rookie on the TNT Tropang Giga, he had the great fortune of being mentored by two of the best: Jimmy Alapag and Jayson Castro.
“It’s more of giving back, paying it forward to the younger ones,” he said. “They’re the future of Philippine basketball.”
Banner Images from Sid Ventura.