Sean Anthony 'says goodbye' to PBA career, now focusing on family

Sean Anthony announced his PBA retirement after 15 years in the league. PBA Images (file photo)

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA—Sean Anthony has called it a PBA career as he shifts his attention to caring for his son, who just recovered from cancer.

"Earlier this year, when we found out my son had cancer, I turned down my extension with the NLEX Road Warriors and moved to Singapore to focus on getting him healthy. Seven months later, and after 6 rounds of immunotherapy and chemotherapy, I’m beyond grateful to say that my son is now cancer-free! Our family has since relocated to Vancouver, Canada, where he will continue post-treatment monitoring and care. With this transition, I’ve decided to step away from the game to focus on family and begin the next chapter of my career as a senior consultant with the EY People Advisory Services team in Vancouver," the 39-year-old Filipino-Canadian forward said in a statement over LinkedIn.

Based on how it describes the company, EY is said to be "building a better working world by creating new value for clients, people, society, the planet, while building trust in the capital markets" using advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence.

Drafted sixth overall in the 2010 draft, Anthony played for 15 years in the PBA with stops at Powerade, Barako Bull, TNT, Air21, Meralco, NorthPort, Phoenix, and NLEX.

Anthony could go down as one of the PBA's best players without an All-Star appearance, making the mythical second team in 2016 and the mythical first team in 2019 following career-high averages in minutes played, points, and steals.

"Saying goodbye to something you love is one of the hardest things to do, which is probably why it has taken me so long to share this. But here it goes: I am officially retiring from basketball," he further said.

Anthony also revealed in his retirement message that he took up MBA studies while playing "because I wanted to be a leader for other players in the PBA—to show that we can educate ourselves during our careers and successfully transition into life after basketball."

After thanking everyone who helped him "live out my childhood dream," Anthony hopes that he can give back to basketball once everything settles in.

"I will always love the game and the PBA, and I hope that one day, when life settles, I can give back to the sport and the community that has given me so much," he concluded.