Roberts Raymond T. Labagala (born July 5, 1984) is a Filipino former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. He last played for 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 fra ...

of the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

(PBA). Standing at 5 feet 7 inches, Labagala plays at the point guard position. He played collegiate basketball at the

University of the East The University of the East ( fil, Pamantasan ng Silangan), also known as UE, is a leading private university located in Manila, Philippines. Founded in 1946, business tycoon Lucio Tan acquired the university in 1990. UE was once labeled as the ...

where he was a benchwarmer who played the fewest minutes on the court. Shortly after graduating, he was picked with the 12th overall pick on the second round of the

2010 PBA draft The 2010 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) rookie draft was an event held at Market! Market! in Taguig on August 29, 2010 that allowed PBA teams to draft players from the amateur ranks. Players who applied for the draft went through a rooki ...

by 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 ...

. He played short minutes on his rookie season due to the Kings' tight guard rotation. After his rookie season, he end up included in the All-Rookie team and being the Rookie Blitz Game Most Valuable Player. After three seasons with the Kings that was renamed to San Miguel on the last season of his tenure with the team, he was traded to the

Barako Bull Energy The Barako Bull Energy were a Philippine Basketball Association team that began in 2002 as the FedEx Express. From its first season until 2005, the team was dubbed as the FedEx Express before changing to Air21 Express. From the 2009 PBA Fiest ...

for very similar Emman Monfort. As usual on his career, Labagala sat out mostly and played just 3 minutes per game in one season with the

Energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...

. When Labagala's contract expired, he was left unsigned by his team and months later was signed by

where he won his first PBA championship.

Personal life and amateur career

Labagala was born on 5 July 1984 on

Talisay, Cebu Talisay, officially the City of Talisay ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Talisay; fil, Lungsod ng Talisay), is a 3rd class component city in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 263,048 people. The name ...

where he was also raised. He studied and played high school basketball at the

Cebu Institute of Technology – University The Cebu Institute of Technology – University (CIT-University, or less often CIT-U, and colloquially CIT) is a private non-sectarian academic institution in Cebu City, Philippines. The university provides basic and higher education with a foun ...

Labagala currently resides at

Navotas Navotas, officially the City of Navotas ( fil, Lungsod ng Navotas), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 247,543 people. It is known as t ...

, his wife's hometown where he currently owns a pastry bakeshop named after him, Little Rob's Cake Haus. Labagala is involved in training the youth of Navotas for improvement, he launched his own basketball camp on 2013. Labagala is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

. Labagala played collegiate basketball for the

Red Warriors UE Red Warriors refer to the collegiate men's varsity teams of the University of the East. The women's collegiate varsity teams are called the UE Lady Warriors. The Athletic director of the University of the East is Rodrigo M. Roque. Backgroun ...

. Because Labagala spent little time on the court, his chances of being scouted by PBA teams that could bring him to the country's premier league was much smaller. Labagala played the fewest minutes among the Red Warriors but was able to help the team's offensive capabilities through his passing ability and speed.

Professional career

Barangay Ginebra Kings/San Miguel (2010-2014)

Nobody thought that Labagala would set foot on a PBA court. His low playing time during his college years meant he was underrated. Labagala was among the oldest rookies in his class and the least-popular. Fortunately, he was picked with the twelfth overall pick of the

by the country's most popular team which is the

. Labagala poured in 8 points and 3 assists in his PBA debut in a loss against Alaska. He only played 19 games on his rookie season and poured almost 5 points and one assist per game. On his sophomore year, he played more games and more minutes and his statistics slightly went down to 3.87 in 14 minutes action per game. He helped the team in their playoff run on the

2013 PBA Commissioner's Cup The 2013 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner's Cup was the second conference of the 2012–13 PBA season. The tournament began on February 8 and ended on May 19, 2013. The tournament is an import-laden format, which requires an i ...

. The Kings went on the

finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

one-time on his third season where they got swept in a best-of-five series.

PBA career statistics

''Correct as of August 1, 2015'' Player Profile
at PBA-Online!

Season-by-season averages

, - , align=left , , align=left , Barangay Ginebra , 19 , , 14.1 , , .493 , , .481 , , .533 , , .8 , , 1.0 , , .6 , , .1 , , 4.7 , - , align=left , , align=left , Barangay Ginebra , 30 , , 14.2 , , .429 , , .281 , , .850 , , 1.2 , , 1.5 , , .2 , , .0 , , 3.9 , - , align=left , , align=left , Barangay Ginebra , 29 , , 8.5 , , .384 , , .188 , , .500 , , .3 , , .6 , , .2 , , .0 , , 2.6 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

Barako Bull The Barako Bull Energy were a Philippine Basketball Association team that began in 2002 as the FedEx Express. From its first season until 2005, the team was dubbed as the FedEx Express before changing to Air21 Express. From the 2009 PBA Fies ...

, 9 , , 11.3 , , .419 , , .000 , , .250 , , 1.1 , , 1.1 , , .6 , , .0 , , 3.0 , - , align=left , , align=left , Talk 'N Text , 8 , , 3.6 , , .250 , , .000 , , .500 , , .1 , , .3 , , .0 , , .0 , , .9

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Labagala, Rob Living people Filipino men's basketball players UE Red Warriors basketball players 1984 births Basketball players from Cebu People from Talisay, Cebu Point guards Barangay Ginebra San Miguel players Barako Bull Energy players TNT Tropang Giga players Cebuano people Barangay Ginebra San Miguel draft picks