Kevin Quiambao was running a bit late. I was in Quezon City. KQ was coming from Batangas. I had eight hours of sleep. God knows if KQ sleeps. Like sleeps, sleeps. I tried to get enough rest because I was going to do something great the morning after: talk to Kevin Quiambao about his dreams. KQ didn’t get enough rest because he was busy doing something great in a Pilipinas jersey the night before.
Kevin Quiambao is on that Gilas wave, suddenly finding himself in the center of an ad campaign for the national team. When he’s on the roster, there’s a raw burst of energy that he brings. Not quite Dwight Ramos energy, which is poised, polished, and never unholy. It’s not Scottie Thompson energy – trusted and tested. KQ is a wild card. He brings a certain level of unpredictability (the good kind). A pop of color. Gilas needs that.
For their send-off game before another expectedly tough FIBA Asia Cup run, the Philippines did a heat check on the Macau Black Bears in Araneta. KQ came in hot. A no-look pass to a trailing Justin Brownlee on a fast break to start. A three-pointer early in the first quarter. Then another. And another.
Gilas found themselves in an “oh no not again” hole, down 21 points in the second quarter. In the last Asia Cup three years ago, they went home after a 21-point loss to Japan, missing the quarterfinals. KQ was part of that team. He felt that pain.
“For me, this is a revenge tour,” KQ told SLAM Philippines after his nearly four-hour ride from Batangas to Quezon City. No symptoms of fatigue. No indication of slowing down. No signs that he just dropped 14 points on a comeback win versus Macau just hours prior.
He was on his much-deserved breather before the team flew to Jeddah. Yet here he was, sitting in front of me in workout clothes and slides. Off-duty KQ wanted to work on his shooting. KQ, off-duty or otherwise, always wanted to work on something.
Talking to him, he doesn’t give lengthy responses. KQ doesn’t talk much about KQ. Ask him about his training routine though, he’ll get into it, right to the detail.
“7AM gumigising ako. Drive ako papuntang Activate Hoop Arena sa Pioneer. Nagwe-weights ako from 9 to 12, depends on the intensity. Kasi everyday iba-iba ‘yung intensity na binibigay sa ‘kin ni Coach Migs [Aytona]. Then right after that, di-diretso ako [sa Quezon City] for Better Basketball, skills. And right after Better Basketball, if may training kami sa Gilas, diretso ako dun sa Upper Deck. Right after Upper Deck, punta ako sa bahay, uwi ako, pahinga ako saglit, and then mag-extra shooting ako sa gabi, 8PM. Malapit lang dun sa bahay. And then, mga 11PM, call it a day,” KQ said.
“So kinabukasan, ganun ulit.”
TRAINING IN THE US
It was a trip two years in the making. KQ should’ve been training in the US a couple of summers ago, but the grind to be a college great grounded him. The result of that two-year grind: a championship, back-to-back MVP trophies, and a pro contract in Korea.
KQ played at such a high level, the slightest deviation from his laser-sharp focus is undetectable from the outside. On the inside, KQ was already at war with his champion self.
“Right after [UAAP] Season 86 na nag-champion kami, medyo nawala ako sa sarili ko, nawala ako sa focus,” he said.
“‘Di ko na alam ‘yung pinaggagawa ko na, medyo nalihis ako ng landas dun.”
Won like a king, celebrated like a king – lost the crown somewhere along the way.
”Nung nag-champion ako, in-enjoy ko lang, sobrang tagal, and then sumobra na ‘yung pag-e-enjoy ko.”
Flew too high, too close to the sun – wax melted, wings fell apart somewhere along the way.
“Pinaramdam lang sa ‘kin ng mundo na hindi habang buhay champion ka.”
The Game 3 Finals loss against the UP Fighting Maroons in Season 87 weighed heavily on KQ. Winning can be a smokescreen, masking the harsh truth of hoops. When losing happens at KQ’s level, it’s a great reset of sorts. You’re only as good as your last championship.
“It fueled me more to keep going and to strive,” he said.
All the wild highlights we watched, all those reps in the gym no one saw, all the crazy stats he got, the lost hours of sleep he can never get back – KQ flipped all that for a pro contract with the Goyang Sono Skyrunners in Korea.
There, he was a beast unleashed. Although he was playing in a league foreign to his MVP tendencies, KQ still put up the numbers. 31 points. 36 points. 17-6-4 average.
His debut in the Korean Basketball League was impressive, but not for KQ. When the Skyrunners missed the playoffs, it set in motion a sequence of events that eventually brought him to the US West Coast to train.
The trip didn’t result in a Summer League spot just yet, but now KQ is on the radar. His skills coach, Patrick Tancioco of Better Basketball, connected him with Excel Sports Management, which got him a private scrimmage in front of scouts representing NBA teams.
NBA DREAMS
“Matagal ko nang plano to try to make the NBA,” KQ said with his chest.
He made that trip to do a heat check, to get as much help as he can to be better, to someday get closer to the sun again, but this time better equipped. Wings unbreakable. He’s all about getting there. Put yourself in a position where opportunity – and luck – can easily find you.
“My goal is to be on that level na nasa apex na talaga,” he said.
This has been KQ’s character. He’s never satisfied. In a constant state of revenge. Always punching up. Working out before a big game. Working out harder right after. Motivated by God and his family. Powered by hard work.
“Everyday lang na motivation is get better,” he said.
The road to the NBA is one that many others before KQ tried taking. The road has been foggy for some, cut short early for others. For KQ, it’s a turn he will take once all the roads before it are laid out. As if building his own highway to the NBA, he knows that everything he has done so far in Manila is just the first phase.
“Phase 2 is to excel in Korea. Mag-ball out sa Korea and do everything that I can in Korea. And, right after that, ayun na,” he said.
“Hopefully, makapasok ako sa NBA someday. Not now, but soon siguro.”
Kevin Quiambao is just on time. He’s now in a position where opportunity knows where to look. He’s a Gilas superstar. Revenge tour still ongoing. The whole of Asia now knows who KQ is. The rest of the world will soon follow.
I left KQ that one afternoon in Quezon City not knowing how he’ll do in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup in Jeddah. (He did awesome, of course.) I didn’t want to keep talking to KQ about his dreams. These are dreams KQ had to attend to. The man had work to do.
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(Photos by Jc Ricarte; Special thanks to Better Basketball)
