'Incredible, unbelievable' championship run caps Jojo Lastimosa's first head coaching stint

As the players celebrated on the court the TNT Tropang Giga's first Governors' Cup crown, there was a moment when Jojo Lastimosa was seen alone as he savored his first coaching title.

It was a moment of disbelief for him as he steered a team to the crown in his first time as a head coach.

WATCH: TNT head coach Jojo Lastimosa savors the moment while the team celebrates their championship on the court @gmasportsph pic.twitter.com/U9RcPPfPGw

— JK Carandang (@jk_carandang) April 21, 2023

Lastimosa was handed the reins to TNT early this year as previous coach Chot Reyes shifted his focus to the national team.

"It's incredible, it's unbelievable," said Lastimosa in a post-game conference.

"Even nung mag-buzzer na, kahit alam kong mananalo na, 'My God, this is really happening.'"

("Even when the buzzer was close to sounding, even if I knew we were going to win, 'My God, this is really happening.'")

Apparently, when Lastimosa was tapped to coach TNT, he asked to make the calls for the team on his own.

"Can you imagine, paulit-ulit ko sinasabi, I'm not supposed to be here. I'm not supposed to be coaching this," the champion coach said. "Our deal was if I'm gonna coach, I'll coach it and I'm not just gonna be a mouthpiece and they agreed to that."

("Can you imagine, I said this over and over, I'm not supposed to be here. I'm not supposed to be coaching this. Our deal was if I'm gonna coach, I'll coach it and I'm not just gonna be a mouthpiece and they agreed to that.")

For Lastimosa, a familiar system with well-versed coaches put the team on track to the crown.

"Sina Josh [Reyes], Sandy [Arespacochaga], Yuri [Escueta], alam nila ang system. Nagkakaiba lang ang subtititution patterns ko and timeouts but generally it was an incredible job by the coaches," he added.

("Josh, Sandy, Yuri, they know the system. We just have different substitutions patterns and timeouts but generally it was an incredible job by the coaches.")

But aside from familiarity and the players' efforts in the game, destiny and faith made TNT's story better and more exciting.

"I believe in destiny and in faith. Things happen for a reason," Lastimosa said when asked about TNT being the only non-San Miguel Corporation team to win recent conferences.

"They're not accidents. Rondae [Hollis-Jefferson] being here, Roger being out, Justin [Brownlee] having food poisoning, there's a lot of drama involved."

"You can't fight destiny, you can't fight faith. If it's gonna happen to you, it's gonna happen to you."

"I've been here in this situation before as a player and this is the kind of environment where I know what's at stake," Lastimosa added.

"I would prefer to have played in that situation than coached," he said in jest.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News