The Final Score: Tim Cone is today’s Baby Dalupan

Tim Cone gripped the microphone as he gathered his thoughts. He was about to do a live postgame interview on television. One can only wonder how he felt at that moment. There’s no other head coach in the PBA, past or present, with 16 championships. Tim’s the only one with 16.

So only Tim knew how it felt to win number 16. Only he knew how it felt to surpass the legendary Baby Dalupan. Guys, that’s Baby freakin’ Dalupan. In this singular moment of Cone’s career, upon reaching the summit of professional tutelage, only he knew what to say and only he knew how to say it perfectly.

“No one will ever surpass Baby as the greatest.”

[Related: Is Cone better than 'The Maestro'?]

I’m pretty sure someone said Dalupan’s record of 15 PBA championships would never be matched. I’m certain some said Dalupan’s record would never be eclipsed. As a kid, I remember hearing that on television. He coached for so long. He won too many. We’re not even counting his championships with UE and Ateneo. So siyempre many of us agreed that his professional record was untouchable. Hence, we happily accepted the conclusion: Baby Dalupan is the greatest.

“He is the father of all coaches,” Tim, his voice quivering through the sound system of the Araneta Coliseum, said.

I didn’t know Dalupan was the PBA’s version of Abraham – the father of all coaches. I totally understand where Tim was coming from. Maybe it’s a generational thing. Kung may edad ka na, you’ll understand. For me, Dalupan is still the greatest. For Tim, Dalupan is still the greatest.

Dalupan resides in that part of the brain that clings to cherished thoughts. These are thoughts that bind Dalupan with the greatness of Crispa, with the powerhouse teams of Great Taste, with that one magical run with Purefoods. These are thoughts that connect Dalupan with other legends: Atoy Co, Philip Cezar, Ricardo Brown, Alvin Patrimonio. Somebody else might win 17, 18 or 20 championships in the future. But these are thoughts that, for guys like Tim and myself, will forever make Baby Dalupan a legend.

It was a classy gesture by Tim. I don’t think he’ll ever, ever, ever say that he’s now a bigger legend than Dalupan. And I understand why. Yet for those too young to remember Dalupan, for those who never saw him coach Crispa or Great Taste or Presto or Purefoods or even Ateneo during that one enigmatic season in 1993, he is just a name. A myth. They probably don’t know how he looks like. They probably won’t appreciate how he transformed the task of coaching superstars into an art form. They surely won’t know that his first name was Virgilio.

But they’ll know Tim. Earl Timothy Cone. Proud winner of 16 PBA championships.

And someday, another coach – a coach who will grow up embracing the legend of Tim Cone - might break Cone’s record. That coach will stand on the court. He will grip the microphone. His voice will quiver He will get goose bumps just because his name will be mentioned alongside Tim’s. Moments after winning his record-breaking triumph, that coach will know exactly what to say and will know exactly how to say it:

“No one will ever surpass Tim as the greatest.” - AMD, GMA News