Gary Ocampo David (born July 13, 1978) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Pampanga Giant Lanterns of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). He is a five-time All-Star and co-holds the longest streak for consecutive games recording 20 points or more. Famously known as "El Granada" or "Mr. Pure Energy", he is widely hailed by fans and Hall of Famers as one of the best scorers of all-time in the PBA. In addition to basketball, David is also an active politician, serving as a councilor in his hometown Dinalupihan since 2022.

College and amateur career

David started out as an intramural player at the

Lyceum of the Philippines University Lyceum of the Philippines University ( fil, Pamantasang Liseo ng Pilipinas) also referred to by its acronym LPU is a private, non-sectarian, coeducational higher education institution located at intramuros in the City of Manila, Philippines ...

, the same school he later powered to three runner-up finishes in the NCRAA versus a star-studded

St. Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

team led by behemoth brothers Yancy and Ranidel de Ocampo. From Lyceum, he joined the Montaña Pawnshop Jewelers in the

Philippine Basketball League The Philippine Basketball League (PBL) was a commercial semi-professional basketball league in the Philippines. The league was composed of several commercial teams with several collegiate and provincial stars. History The PBL was formed on Ma ...

, winning an MVP award in 2003.

Professional career

Philippine Basketball Association

Rookie season

David entered the 2004 PBA Draft, and was selected as the tenth overall pick by the then- Coca-Cola Tigers. The Tigers, headed by then-coach

Chot Reyes Vincent "Chot" P. Reyes (born August 1, 1963) is a Filipino basketball head coach for the TNT Tropang Giga for the Philippine Basketball Association. He is also the head coach of the Philippine national basketball team, where he led the team to ...

, were coming of a banner

year A year or annus is the orbital period of a planetary body, for example, the Earth, moving in its orbit around the Sun. Due to the Earth's axial tilt, the course of a year sees the passing of the seasons, marked by change in weather, the ...

in which they finished runners-up in the first and second conference's and winning the 2003 Reinforced Conference title in which

Johnny Abarrientos Johnny Abarrientos (born July 17, 1970) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association. He was also a many-time member of the Philippine National team, and was the 1996 PBA Most Valuable Player, bec ...

, Rudy Hatfield and

Jeffrey Cariaso Jeffrey Joaquin Cariaso is a Filipino-American coach and retired professional basketball player. He is the former head coach of the Converge FiberXers of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He also played for various PBA teams, mostly ...

was still in the fold. During his rookie season, David found himself coming off the bench with insignificant minutes due to the depth of the team. As the season progressed, David played more minutes as the team's sixth man but was then shipped to the Air21 Express in the middle of the season.

Mr. Pure Energy, multiple awards and injury

Air21's acquisition of David was considered a major steal in the 2005 mid-season. He immediately played significant amount minutes as he backed up then star Ren-Ren Ritualo. David brought high energy to Air21's running game and was a major factor of the Express securing the third-place finish in that season's Fiesta conference. David exploded for 19 points to carry the Express to its first-ever Final Four appearance after upsetting the Darvin Ham-led

Talk 'N Text Phone Pals Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

, 117–110, in Game 5 of the quarterfinals on January 20, 2006 in Antipolo City. Throughout the course of the season, David improved his numbers significantly by averaging 21.3 points per game with 4.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists to go as he took the role of being the team's main man. He then got injured causing Air21's semi-finals bid to go down the drain. Despite improving his numbers and collecting numerous awards along the way, David remained an underrated superstar for most of his early years. Prior to an unfortunate elbow injury, David was having an impressive season and was on the verge of a probable MVP award, only losing in the voting process to eventual winner Willie Miller. He also earned several awards during the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

including the PBA Most Improved Player and belonged to the Mythical First Team and the All-Defensive First Team. Despite several injuries in the past, David took the cudgels as the team's go-to-guy after former franchise player Renren Ritualo was shipped to Talk 'N Text and the energetic Ronald Tubid to Ginebra. GD vs Red Bull

In the 2007-08 PBA season, David played only 2 games during the Philippine Cup with limited minutes due to the fact that he was still recovering from a knee injury he suffered the season before. He then came back to full action during the Fiesta Conference but mostly coming of the bench. During the middle of the conference, however, David regained his starting spot and minutes and quickly became the team's go-to-guy along with Arwind Santos. The two led the Express to 1st place in the elimination round with an 11-7 win–loss slate. The Express received an automatic semi-final berth then they faced the Magnolia Beverage Masters which they won the series 4-2. The Express barge into the Fiesta Conference Finals against the

Barangay Ginebra Kings A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...

led by Best Import Chris Alexander and Best Player of the Conference Jayjay Helterbrand along with the tournament's leading scorer Mark Caguioa. The series went down to the wire which the eventually lost in seven games. David led the team in scoring again after the season, despite the injury, averaging 16.3 points per game. David was 100% healthy and back in full force during the 2008-09 PBA season. The Express had a formidable starting lineup with Arwind Santos, Ranidel de Ocampo, Wynne Arboleda and Homer Se in his side, David immediately led the Air21 Express as one of the contenders to win the title. Unfortunately, after trading fellow star Ranidel de Ocampo to the

Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters The TNT Tropang Giga is a professional basketball team currently owned by Smart Communications, a subsidiary of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) since 1990. The fr ...

, the team only managed to muster 1 win in the next 4 games without de Ocampo. Before the trade, the Express were holding on a 7-6 win–loss record and an almost guaranteed quarterfinals seat but then went down to the wildcard phase with an 8-10 record. His team finished at a disappointing 8th spot. They faced the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants during the first round of the wildcard phase which they convincingly won 94-82. However, they eventually lost to the

San Miguel Beermen The San Miguel Beermen are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). It is one of three PBA clubs owned by the San Miguel Corporation group of companies along with the Magnolia Hotshots and Barangay Ginebr ...

in the second round, 105-86, and failed to booked a quarterfinals seat. He led his team again in scoring during the Philippine Cup with 19.2 points per game including 4.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists. During the Fiesta Conference, the newly named Burger King Whoppers finished at the number 4 spot and earned a twice-to-beat advantage entering the wildcard phase. They squandered the Alaska Aces, 96-90, and booked a best-of-3 quarterfinals seat against the Sta. Lucia Realtors which they also won, 2-1 and earned a spot in the final four which they were pitted against the no. 1 team

. They lost the series 4-2. David, himself, struggled during the semifinals series in which he even scored 0 in game 4, his first ever zero point performance since his rookie season. The Whoppers won third place honors.

Return to Coca-Cola and struggles

Before the start of the 2009-10 PBA season, David's tandem partner Arwind Santos, was traded to the

in exchange for power forward Marc Pingris and sophomore

Ken Bono Karl Kenneth Odani Bono (born June 19, 1984) is a Filipino basketball player who last played for the TNT KaTropa of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He played collegiate basketball for the Adamson Soaring Falcons in the University ...

plus San Miguel's first round pick in the 2010 Draft. Burger King got the first overall pick in the 2009 Draft in which they used to get the 6-foot-9 forward

Japeth Aguilar Japeth Paul Cabrera Aguilar (born January 25, 1987) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He first played college basketball for the Ateneo Blue Eagles of ...

. But shortly after Japeth's PBA Debut, he was then traded to the

for him to be able to play for the Smart Gilas Pilipinas National Team. David was yet again left alone. Expected to lead his team all by himself, David started slow during the 2009–10 Philippine Cup by only averaging 14.1

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by nu ...

and only winning 5 out of 16 games with the Burger King Whoppers. At that point, he was already asking for a trade. On January 4, 2010, he was then traded to the Coca-Cola Tigers for Alex Cabagnot and Wesley Gonzales. Because of their dismal record before David's arrival, Coca-Cola ended up in the

wildcard Wild card most commonly refers to: * Wild card (cards), a playing card that substitutes for any other card in card games * Wild card (sports), a tournament or playoff place awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal pla ...

phase. They faced David's former team Burger King Whoppers in the first round of the wildcard and beat 118-112 but were eventually eliminated by the

Rain or Shine Elasto Painters The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association owned by Asian Coatings Philippines, Inc. It debuted in the league in the 2006–07 PBA season after acquiring the franchise right ...

after losing, 84-99. He teamed up with Asi Taulava to form a dangerous duo.

2010 PBA Fiesta Conference The 2010 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Fiesta Conference was the last conference of the 2009-10 PBA season. It started on March 21 and finished on August 18, 2010. The tournament is an Import-laden format, which requires an import or a ...

was a blast for David as he led the PBA in scoring with 21.9

along with 3.4

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

and 2.3 assists per game. The Tigers started out the conference winning four of their first five assignments but shortly after, they suffered a 6-game losing streak that affected their bid for the automatic quarterfinal berth. And due again to the lack of support, his team again wounded up in the

phase with an 8–10 record. They easily beat the Sta. Lucia Realtors, 100-84, to move on to the second phase of the wildcard stage but were met again by the

. They were eliminated again by the

, 98-93, and took the final spot in the

Quarterfinals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

. Despite being the league's leading scorer, a poor finish by the team caused David to lose the Best Player of the Conference Award to

's Jay Washington.

Coca-Cola Tigers / Powerade Tigers

=2010–11 season

= David started strong in the Philippine Cup, averaging a league best 21.5 points while adding 3.3

and 3.5 assists. However, his team failed to reach the quarterfinals and was eliminated with a dismal 3–11 record, highlighted by an 8-game losing streak. With only 9 remaining games to be played in the Commissioner's Cup, David quickly got his game going as he led the league again in scoring with an average of 23.5 points along with 3.0

and 2.6 assists, highlighted by back-to-back 30-point performances, dropping 36 points against the Brgy. Ginebra Kings and 35 points against the

. Unfortunately, the Tigers once again failed to reach the playoffs, as they finished in 9th place with a 2–7 record. In the Governors Cup, David was only able to play 5 games because of an injury. Still, he still managed to produce 19.6 points, 2.6

and 1.4 assists. Despite being tied with Rain or Shine and B-Meg after compiling a 4–4 record, Powerade did not make the playoffs as the quotient system did not favor them.

=2011–12 season

= In the 2011–12 PBA Philippine Cup, David led his team to 6 wins and 8 losses during eliminations, as Powerade finished 8th to begin the playoffs. The team pulled off a huge upset as they defeated the 1st seeded B-Meg Llamados twice to advance to the next round. This marked the Tigers' first semi-finals appearance in 7 years, the last being in 2004. During the playoffs, Gary David scored 30 points or more in almost every game. Impressed by David's string of high-scoring games, veteran PBA statistician Fidel Mangonon commented via

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

: "Since I worked in the PBA starting in late '91 as a sportswriter, Gary David is the 1st local player to score at least 30 pts in 5 straight games." In their next game, David had another 30-point outing as he extended his streak to 6 consecutive games. He was able to anchor his team past the Rain or Shine in the semifinals. Powerade battled with the

in the Finals series. Despite the Tropang Texters beating Powerade in 5 games to become back-to-back Philippine Cup champions, David's sterling performance is still regarded as one of the best in PBA playoff/finals history. David was named the Best Player of the Conference for the PBA Philippine Cup, beating Petron Blaze Boosters' Arwind Santos, despite the latter leading in statistical points. David became just the third player from the Coca-Cola franchise to win the plum after

and Rudy Hatfield. He also became the first and only player from an eighth-seeded team to receive the award. David tallied averages of 25 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and a steal per game in the Philippine Cup. In the early days of February, it was reported that David will be rewarded accordingly by his team, to be given a three-year contract-extension deal worth P15.1 million. Powerade top official JB Baylon has confirmed that they are giving David the maximum monthly pay of P420,000—allowed under the league's amended salary cap rule. With David's constant improvement came his wage increases. He received P250,000 a month in 2009, P300,000 in 2010 and P350,000 at present. On March 25, 2012, he became the 64th and latest member of the PBA 5,000-point club, a plateau he reached with his first of two charities at the 3:43 mark of the third period.

Meralco Bolts

On October 11, 2013, David was traded to the Meralco Bolts with AJ Mandani in exchange for Chris Ross, Chris Timberlake and Meralco's 2016 and 2017 second round picks He made his debut in a Bolts' uniform on November 17 in a losing effort against the

, 80-89, scoring 26 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. On March 13, 2016, David was penalized by the management of Meralco Bolts due to "insubordination, lack of dedication to the team; and breach of contract which states that he’s obligated to play in official PBA games at all times" during a game against

NLEX Road Warriors The NLEX Road Warriors is a professional basketball team owned by NLEX Corporation, a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, currently playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) since the 2014–2015 season. The R ...

in the 2016 PBA Commissioner's Cup, according to the One Meralco Sports' website. David was seated in the bench during the game period. At the fourth quarter, coach Norman Black asked David to check in, but he said that he does not want to play. In an investigation, the team cleared that there were no physical impediments for Gary to not to enter the game. Meralco suspended David for one game and fined for an undisclosed amount of money. The suspension was served during the team's game against Blackwater Elite on March 18. In his part, David states that he is suffering an ankle injury during the game and asked his fans to understand his current situation. Four days later, David was officially dropped from the Meralco roster, becoming an unrestricted free agent in the process.

San Miguel Beermen

On April 7, 2016, after weeks of speculation on where David would sign, his agent confirmed that David is set to play for the

Mahindra Floodbuster

On November 29, 2016, David signed a 1-year contract with Mahindra Floodbuster. He was waived from the team on May 30, 2017.

Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

Bataan Defenders

David debuted at the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League with the Bataan Defenders in February 2018.

National team career

After winning the MVP plum in 2003 in the PBL, David was chosen to be part of the Philippine team that would compete in the

2003 Southeast Asian Games The 2003 Southeast Asian Games ( vi, Đại hội Thể thao Đông Nam Á 2003), officially known as the 22nd Southeast Asian Games and also known as Vietnam 2003, was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held from 5 to 13 December 2003 in Hano ...

, starring alongside college rival Ranidel De Ocampo, University of the East star James Yap, Ateneo de Manila's Rich Alvarez, and PSBA's Marc Pingris. They won the tournament and brought home the gold medal. 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup Croatia vs Philippines (2)

2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup Croatia vs Philippines (2)

David was then chosen to be part of the Smart Gilas Pilipinas 2.0 that would be built to compete for the 2014 World Championships. In August 2012, the national team competed in its first international tournament, the

2012 William Jones Cup The 2012 William Jones Cup was the 34th tournament of the William Jones Cup that took place at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium in Taipei, Republic of China (commonly known as Taiwan) from August 18 to 26, 2012. As in previous tourn ...

. In the team's third assignment, they faced long time rival

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. David bailed out the Nationals, who squandered a 14-point lead before trailing by 12, with two clutch baskets in a row to propel the Philippines to a 3-0 start. They then beat

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in the next game thanks to a rally that was started by David after hitting a three-pointer after being down by nine. After losing to

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

, David helped the Nationals beat 3-time defending champions

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Tu ...

, 77-75 in thrilling fashion. He then led the Nationals along with LA Tenorio, to win the gold medal in the 2012 Jones Cup after beating the USA select team, 76-75. It was the country's first championship in the Asian level since the

Philippine Centennial Team The 1998 Philippines men's national basketball team, nicknamed the "Philippine Centennial Team", competed in the 1998 Asian Games. The team consisted of professional players in the country that included national team veterans Allan Caidic and ...

anchored by coach

Tim Cone Earl Timothy Cone (born December 14, 1957) is an American professional basketball coach who is the head coach of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He is the most accomplished coach in PBA history with ...

ruled the 1998 edition of the Jones Cup. He was part of the squad that took the silver in the

2013 FIBA Asia Championship The 2013 FIBA Asia Championship for Men was the intercontinental championship for basketball organized by FIBA Asia that served as the qualifying tournament for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain. The tournament was held from August 1–1 ...

. He was also included in the national team's final lineup for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup and the

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games ( ko, 2014년 아시아 경기대회/2014년 아시안 게임, Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the 17th Asian Games ( ko, 제17회 아시아 경기대회/제17회 ...

. He was also included in the initial pool for the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship but did not make the cut. ''Correct as of August 11, 2013.''

PBA career statistics

''Correct as of October 4, 2016''

Season-by-season averages

, - , align=left , , style="text-align:left;",

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlan ...

FedEx FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name ...

, 53 , , 15.0 , , .384 , , .263 , , .718 , , 2.1 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , .1 , , 6.9 , - , align=left , , align=left , Air21 , 27 , , 17.6 , , .437 , , .276 , , .722 , , 1.8 , , .7 , , .4 , , .2 , , 9.9 , - , align=left , , align=left , Air21 , 39 , , 31.8 , , .476 , , .303 , , .829 , , 3.4 , , 1.7 , , .9 , , .1 , , 20.6 , - , align=left , , align=left , Air21 , 33 , , 27.2, , .413 , , .360 , , .812 , , 2.4 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , .1 , , 15.4 , - , align=left , , align=left , Air21 , 45 , , 28.9 , , .423 , , .290 , , .850 , , 3.6 , , 2.1 , , .6 , , .1 , , 17.2 , - , align=left , , align=left , Burger King / Coca-Cola , 39 , , 31.5 , , .452 , , .320 , , .795 , , 3.3 , , 2.3 , , .7 , , .1 , , style="background:#cfecec;", 18.2 , - , align=left , , align=left , Powerade , 28 , , 35.0 , , .448 , , .368 , , .810 , , 3.1 , , 2.8 , , .6 , , .2 , , style="background:#cfecec;", 21.8 , - , align=left , , align=left , Powerade , 49 , , 37.3 , , .439 , , .362 , , .853 , , 3.8 , , 2.3 , , .9 , , .1 , , style="background:#cfecec;", 25.8 , - , align=left , , align=left , GlobalPort , 31 , , 34.4 , , .387 , , .300 , , .849 , , 3.4 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , .1 , , style="background:#cfecec;", 18.8 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

Meralco The Manila Electric Company (), also known as Meralco (, ), is an electric power distribution company in the Philippines. It is Metro Manila's only electric power distributor and holds the power distribution franchise for 22 cities and 89 munic ...

, 36 , , 35.2 , , .414 , , .332 , , .799 , , 4.6 , , 1.9 , , .5 , , .1 , , 16.5 , - , align=left , , align=left , Meralco , 42 , , 26.7 , , .403 , , .327 , , .822 , , 2.7 , , 1.7 , , .6 , , .1 , , 13.3 , - , align=left , , align=left , Meralco / San Miguel , 35 , , 17.6 , , .422 , , .354 , , .755 , , 1.9 , , .6 , , .3 , , .1 , , 8.5 , - , align=left , , align=left , Mahindra , 8, , 12.2 , , .345 , , .296 , , .600 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , .5 , , .0 , , 6.5 , - class=sortbottom , align=center colspan=2 , Career , 465 , , 28.0 , , .428 , , .328 , , .818 , , 3.0 , , 1.6 , , .5 , , .1 , , 16.0

Personal life

David is a native of Dinalupihan, Bataan. Aware that he cannot play basketball forever, David has made a few investments, including a 10-door residential/commercial apartment in Pandi, Bulacan. He also plans to add more apartment units and enter the livestock business.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:David, Gary 1978 births Living people Barako Bull Energy players Basketball players at the 2014 Asian Games Basketball players from Bataan NorthPort Batang Pier players Terrafirma Dyip players Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League players Meralco Bolts players Lyceum Pirates basketball players Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars Philippines men's national basketball team players Filipino men's basketball players Powerade Tigers players San Miguel Beermen players Shooting guards Filipino sportsperson-politicians Southeast Asian Games gold medalists for the Philippines Southeast Asian Games medalists in basketball 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup players Competitors at the 2003 Southeast Asian Games Asian Games competitors for the Philippines Powerade Tigers draft picks