Greg Slaughter set to join PBA and SEAG Gilas Pilipinas in Dec.

“GREG-ZILLA” is ready to take the path back to the PBA and the Southeast Asian Games (SEAG).

Aside from declaring his intention to play in the pro league after a four-year absence, Greg Slaughter is also offering his service for the Gilas Pilipinas team that will defend the SEAG gold in Thailand in December.

In attendance for the PBA’s opening ceremonies the other day, the seven-foot center said he wants to run it back and help coach Norman Black duplicate their triumphant campaign in the biennial meet 14 years ago in Jakarta.

“I actually reached out to coach Norman as soon as I found out he was going to be coaching the (Gilas Pilipinas) SEAG Games (team). We were able to win one in 2011 together and when I messaged him, I told him that I would love to do that again,” he said.

Mr. Slaughter was a key member of Mr. Black’s all-college Sinag Pilipinas crew back then, dropping 16 points and grabbing eight rebounds in the 85-57 clincher over the Thais.

“So hopefully that’s a possibility. I know a lot of the PBA players won’t be available for that. So one of the first things I did was reach out to coach and told him I’d be available for that.”

At the same time, Mr. Slaughter said he already got in touch with Aldriene Anglim, team manager of Titan Ultra, the new franchise that replaced his old team NorthPort, to explore his possible PBA comeback.

“I’ve known him for a long time now. He used to come by our Ginebra practices when he was just a teenager. And so I was pretty surprised when I saw he’s the team manager of the team that has my rights now,” he said.

“We just had a little conversation about me possibly coming back and we’ll see what we can build from here.”

Mr. Slaughter has plied his trade in Japan and the MPBL after his last stint with the Batang Pier in 2021.

“I definitely want to come back. I just welcomed my third daughter into the world two weeks ago so me and my family are going to be settled here for a while now,” he said. — Olmin Leyba