Gabe Norwood ends his PBA career in the Season 50 Philippine Cup quarterfinals as the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters got the boot from the Meralco Bolts.
With Rain or Shine’s elimination at the hands of Meralco on Monday in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup quarterfinals, one of the league’s greats is taking his leave.
Gabe Norwood is retiring from professional basketball, with the former no. 1 pick announcing earlier that this All-Filipino conference will be his last in the PBA.
The end of Norwood’s decorated PBA career came with a whimper, as no. 2 seed Rain or Shine blew a twice-to-beat advantage against the Bolts.
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In what ended up as his final game, Norwood started for Rain or Shine and played almost 22 minutes, coming up with three points, two rebounds, one assist, and three steals.
After the game, Norwood reflected on his time in the PBA, all of which was spent with Rain or Shine starting when he was drafted first overall in 2008.
“For me personally, just thank you to Rain or Shine. Playing for one organization my whole career and only call one place home, it’s special to me,” he said.
“They took me in as a son back in 2008 and it’s been family the whole way through. It’s a special situation, it’s not transactional. It’s not you sign a dotted line and it’s over, it’s family at Rain or Shine,” Norwood added.
Norwood’s arrival to Rain or Shine signaled the start of the team’s rise as a contender.
After missing the playoffs in their first two seasons, the Elasto Painters made the quarterfinals in Norwood’s first conference. From then, the breakthroughs would slowly come, culminating with the franchise’s first PBA title in the 2012 Governors’ Cup.
Norwood would win another title with ROS in 2016, when the Elasto Painters beat the Alaska Aces in the Commissioner’s Cup Finals.
That ROS group still remains as the last non-SMC and MVP team to win a PBA championship.
In Norwood’s time with Rain or Shine, the team won two titles six Finals appearances.
Aside from his work with Rain or Shine, Norwood is also a celebrated member of Gilas Pilipinas.
Making his national team debut in 2007, Norwood was part of the Gilas team that two silver medals in the FIBA Asia Championships. He also won a SEA Games gold medal in 2007 and the Jones Cup title in 2012.
Overall, Norwood appeared in nine major FIBA tournaments for the Philippine national team from 2007 to 2019, including two World Cups.