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Gabby Espinas

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Gabby Espinas
Espinas driving to the basket against Rain or Shine's Maverick Ahanmisi.
No. 27 – Caloocan Batang Kankaloo
PositionPower forward
LeagueMPBL
Personal information
Born (1982-01-03) January 3, 1982 (age 42)
Olongapo, Philippines
NationalityFilipino
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight208 lb (94 kg)
Career information
CollegePCU
PBA draft2006: 1st round, 5th overall pick
Selected by the San Miguel Beermen
Playing career2006–present
Career history
2006–2007San Miguel Beermen
2007–2008Air21 Express
2008–2009Barako Bull Energy Boosters
2009–2010Sta. Lucia Realtors
2010–2012Meralco Bolts
2012–2015Alaska Aces
2015GlobalPort Batang Pier
2015–2018San Miguel Beermen
2018–2019NorthPort Batang Pier
2019Meralco Bolts
2019–2020Manila Stars
2021JPS Zamboanga City
2021Sarangani Marlins
2022Ormoc – OCCCI Sheer Masters
2022Sarangani Marlins
2022–presentCaloocan Batang Kankaloo
Career highlights and awards

Gabriel Espinas (born January 3, 1982) is a Filipino professional basketball player for Caloocan Batang Kankaloo of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). A 6'4" forward, he was drafted fifth overall by the Beermen in the 2006 PBA draft. He made a name in the amateur ranks as the first-ever Rookie of the Year-Most Valuable Player of the NCAA while playing for the PCU Dolphins.

Amateur career

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Espinas began to play for PCU in the NCAA in the 2004 season. With Espinas, Robert Sanz, Jayson Castro, and Ian Garrido playing together with head coach Loreto Tolentino, the Dolphins made it to the Final Four for the first time since 2002.

After defeating the defending champion Letran Knights, PCU defeated the UPHSD Altas in the finals with Espinas scoring double-double numbers in the Final Four and the championship series.

He became the first NCAA player to be named as the Rookie of the Year and the Most Valuable Player in the same season. San Beda's Sam Ekwe followed suit in the 2006 season.

From 2005–06, he led the Dolphins to the finals only to lose to Letran and San Beda, respectively. However, he was still named to the Mythical Five in both seasons.

He debuted in the Philippine Basketball League in 2005 for the Harbour Centre Portmasters playing alongside Mark Cardona, LA Tenorio, Magnum Membrere, and PCU teammates Castro and Sanz.

After a stint with Harbour, he played his final two conferences with the Hapee-PCU squad, leading them to the semifinals in the Heroes Cup.

Professional career

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In the 2006 PBA Draft, Espinas was drafted fifth overall by the San Miguel Beermen. After his time with PCU, he was quickly signed by San Miguel to a rookie contract. He made his PBA debut in a game against Red Bull and played an impressive performance despite the loss.

He then played the reserve role for the Beermen after the team acquired the services of Rommel Adducul and Lordy Tugade plus the return from injury of Danny Ildefonso.

The San Miguel Beermen traded Espinas for the Air21 Express' first round pick in the 2008 PBA draft.[1]

He was then traded by the Air21 Express to the Red Bull Barako for a first round pick in the 2009 PBA Draft. The pick was then used to draft Japeth Aguilar as the first overall in 2009 by the Whoopers.[2]

In 2009, he was again traded to the Sta. Lucia Realtors, his fourth team, for Sta. Lucia's 2009 first round pick.

In 2012, he was traded to the Alaska Aces in exchange for Jay-R Reyes.[3]

On March 14, 2015, he was traded to GlobalPort Batang Pier in exchange for Nonoy Baclao and a 2017 first round draft pick.[4]

On April 6, 2015, Espinas was traded back to the Beermen as part of a 4-team, 6-player trade.[5]

PBA career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Correct as of October 4, 2016[6]

Season-by-season averages

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Year Team GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2006–07 San Miguel 47 9.9 .519 .000 .582 2.9 .4 .2 .3 3.6
2007–08 Magnolia / Air21 20 9.2 .412 .143 .643 1.7 .3 .2 .2 2.6
2008–09 Red Bull / Barako Bull 33 27.9 .482 .212 .634 8.4 1.2 .4 .5 12.4
2009–10 Sta. Lucia 37 20.3 .516 .000 .616 5.3 .7 .2 .4 7.2
2010–11 Meralco 32 31.1 .487 .000 .691 8.6 1.2 .4 .7 12.1
2011–12 Meralco 34 27.8 .465 .500 .643 6.8 .9 .4 .6 11.2
2012–13 Alaska 54 17.6 .515 .000 .673 4.0 .6 .1 .3 7.5
2013–14 Alaska 43 24.5 .538 .000 .628 6.7 1.1 .4 .2 10.2
2014–15 Alaska / GlobalPort / San Miguel 32 11.8 .573 .000 .620 2.3 .4 .2 .1 3.7
2015–16 San Miguel 47 14.3 .540 .500 .689 3.4 .5 .2 .2 5.4
Career 379 19.3 .504 .220 .646 5.0 .7 .3 .3 7.6

Personal life

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Espinas was born to an African-American father, who was once stationed in Subic but died when Gabby was only five years old, and to a Filipina mother.

References

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  1. ^ Air21 acquires Espinas; Carey Cardona fined, suspended Archived January 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Philippine Daily Inquirer
  2. ^ "PBA-Online". PBA-Online.
  3. ^ Belen, Reynaldo. "Alaska, Meralco swap big men Jay-R Reyes, Gabby Espinas". www.interaksyon.com. InterAksyon.com. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
  4. ^ Dy, Richard. "Alaska trades Gabby Espinas for Globalport big man Noy Baclao". www.spin.ph. spin.ph. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  5. ^ Ganglani, Naveen. "Ginebra, San Miguel, GlobalPort, Barako Bull complete 4-team trade". www.rappler.ph. rappler.ph. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  6. ^ Player at PBA-Online!
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