EXCLUSIVE: First Interview With Newly Crowned KBL ROY, Kevin Quiambao
KEVIN QUIAMBAO was all over Filipino and Korean basketball social media on April 9, as he was formally announced as this KBL season’s Rookie of The Year.
ALL-STAR was able to ask KQ a few questions courtesy of Vince Kim, Sono Skygunners’ International Liason/Translator.
The Road to ROY
Quiambao, is famous for his unrelenting training regimen. In fact, he headed to a workout right after claiming his award.
Naturally, ALL-STAR asked KQ, the man who embodies believing in the value of hard work, to tell us in his own words what it feels like to have won this award.
KQ: I’ve Been Dreaming of This Kind of Award
“First of all, thank you so much KBL. And sa lahat ng mga kababayan natin na sumuporta sa akin (and to all our countrymen who supported me) all throughout my journey,” he tells ALL-STAR.
“I think the main thing here is my strength and conditioning.” He quickly adds as he specifies his coaches Migs Aytona and Luis De Mesa who pays extra attention to detail to his sessions.
KQ also showed love to Team Nutrition for supporting him with his needs that undoubtedly contributed to his success.
For those that remember, KQ was also in contention for the same award last year. However, he got hurt and was unable to meet the required number of games to be eligible. Instead, it was his fellow pinoy hooper JD Cagulangan who brought home the award.
When asked whether being ROY was a goal for him or if it just happened organically, Quiambao didn’t shy away in answering as he said “Yung mga ganitong award is, isa eto sa mga pinapangarap ko noong bata pa ako.”
(“I’ve been dreaming of these kinds of awards when I was young.”)
‘I am not satisfied with this award, what’s important is how deep we go in this playoffs run.’
“For sure all of the young Filipinos want to be recognized not just in the Philippines but on the global basketball (level).” he adds.
While he’s obviously (briefly) allowing himself to enjoy the moment of winning ROY, his focus and determination remains as sharp as ever.
“I’m just very, very happy that I won this award. But I said it to all the media here in Korea that hindi ako satisfied sa award na to. Mas may importansya sa akin how deep we go this playoff run.”
(“I am not satisfied with this award, what’s more important is how deep we go this playoffs run.”)
The KBL regular season has just recently concluded but KQ and the Sono Skygunners are still in contention for the biggest prize there is, which is the KBL championship.
Read what KQ has to say about their playoff run here (link).
To end, KQ thanked his fans and supporters, thanked God, while also pulling a Snoop Dogg and thanked himself.
“I wanna thank me for believing in me.”
“Gamsahabnida!” he playfully adds.
Quiambao averaged 15.5ppg, 6.6rpg, 4.3apg, with 1.2spg while also playing in all of their scheduled games this season.
