Almost two years after getting cut from his first PBA team, Diego Dario is back in the PBA with Meralco Bolts
Diego Dario is a living proof that if you want something, make it happen by controlling what you can and letting go of things you can’t.
He’s back in the PBA.
After being a practice player for quite some time, Dario has now been upgraded to an active player by the Meralco Bolts and will be included in the roster in the recently opened 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup.
Dario confirmed on January 24 that he had signed a one conference contract with the team, being able to play in the league after getting dropped by Blackwater in June 2021.
“I’m very blessed and very grateful to the coaching staff, the team management — especially sila Boss Pao [Trillo], and also the players,” Dario told Tiebreaker Times.
“They’ve been very supportive of me since Day 1. They welcomed me even if I was just a practice player.”
The 5-foot-7 guard out of the University of the Philippines never stopped chasing for his dream even after getting cut from his first PBA team with the averages of 3.4 points and 2.6 assists in around 12 minutes a game with players who are also in the Bolts’ current rotation such as Allein Maliksi, Raymar Jose, and Mac Belo, reported Rappler.
After his stint with Blackwater, Dario turned to other commercial leagues in the country including playing for Primus 7A in Filbasket, Nueva Ecija in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League, and Davao Occidental-Cocolife in the Pilipinas Super League.
“When I got the call up to be a practice player, I said yes. It’s still the PBA and Meralco is one of the best teams in the country. Even if I was a practice player, I still get to learn from Coach (Norman) Black and Coach (Nenad) Vucinic — yun pa lang were enough for me na,” added Dario.
Now, the 26-year-old insists that he had changed his mindset from grinding to crack into one of PBA’s lineups, to grinding and working extra to be able to stay in the league for a long time.
Tags: #PBA, #MeralcoBolts, #UP