LA Tenorio recently shed some light on his recent absence in the PBA. As posted on PBA official website, LA, whose real name is Lewis Alfred Vasquez Tenorio said in the statement that he was “diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer.” He added “The initial testing three weeks ago led me to instantly miss practices and games. I have completed my surgery last week and will soon undergo treatment for the next few months,”
Tenorio ended his statement with an appreciation to all his fans as well as Ginebra fans and asks everyone to respect his “family as they go through this journey privately and discreetly as much as possible.”
LA Tenorio’s basketball career is nothing short of an accomplishment; As a rookie for the Blue Eagles of Ateneo de Manila as he helped lead his team into the 2001 basketball UAAP Finals then later lost to the eventual champion De La Salle University-Manila. The next year he was able to exacted revenge aon DLSU-Manila to win the 2002 UAAP Men’s Seniors basketball championship.
Tenorio was drafted fourth overall in the 2006 PBA draft by San Miguel Beermen, where he played for from 2006 – 2008. He average 25.5 minutes for Magnolia with a respectable average of 7.8 points, 4.6 assists and 3.6 rebounds in nine games. He and fellow Blue Eagles Larry Fonacier was later traded to the Alaska Aces for Mike Cortez and Ken Bono.
On August 2012, Tenorio was again traded to the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in a six-player blockbuster deal and been part of the team since then. Tenorio is also part of the Smart Gilas 2.0 roster.
Below are LA Tenorio’s Basketball Career highlights;
- 8× PBA champion (2010 Fiesta, 2016 Governors’, 2017 Governors’, 2018 Commissioner’s, 2019 Governors’, 2020 Philippine, 2021 Governors’, 2022–23 Commissioner’s)
- 4× PBA Finals MVP (2010 Fiesta, 2016 Governors’, 2017 Governors’, 2020 Philippine)
- PBA Best Player of the Conference (2013 Commissioner’s)
- 10× PBA All-Star (2009, 2011–2015, 2017–2019, 2023)
- 2× PBA Mythical First Team (2010, 2013)
- 2× PBA Mythical Second Team (2016, 2017)
- PBA All-Rookie Team (2007)
- PBA Order of Merit (2017)
- PBA Most Improved Player (2010)
- UAAP champion (2002)
- 2× UAAP Mythical Team (2004, 2005)
- William Jones Cup MVP (2012)
- PBL champion (2006 Unity)
- PBL Finals MVP (2006 Unity)
- PBL Mythical Second Team (2005 Unity)
You can read the full text of LA Tenorio’s statement here.