Allen Durham Has Retired From Basketball

Long time resident import of the Meralco Bolts, Allen Durham, has called it quits. The 36-year-old decided to retire from playing basketball professionally and spend more time with his family, especially his two growing kids.

Bolts Coach Luigi Trillo confirmed of Durham’s decision to SPIN.ph after the organization held a send-off party to the three-time PBA Best Import, who is set to return back to the US on 31 October.

"AD has decided to retire and he just feels it’s the right time. He wants to spend time with his children," said Trillo.

Durham is walking away from the game he dearly loves at a time when he fell short of carrying the Bolts back to the Governors’ Cup finals as they were swept by long-time rival Justine Brownlee and the Barangay Ginebra Kings in the best-of-five quarterfinals series.

While power and brute remain Durham’s staple, it was obvious the import was just a bit of a shadow of his deadly form upon his return to the franchise four years after last playing for Meralco.

At his peak, 'The Hulk' was a force to reckon with and guided the team to the Governors’ Cup finals three times – all of which he emerged recipient of the Best Import award.

Durham was part of the Meralco side that played before a then record crowd 54,089 at the Philippine Arena during the deciding Game 7 of the season-ending conference in 2017.

Trillo believes all of those finals losses laid the foundation for the Bolts to finally bag their first ever league championship during the last Philippine Cup.

"He had been a big part of turning Meralco basketball into what it is today. I don’t think we would have won if not for the foundation of all these years. AD was part of that," said Trillo, who was deputy to then head coach Norman Black in the three previous finals appearances by the team.

During the sendoff, the entire team praised Durham for all he did for the franchise as captain Chris Newsome, Cliff Hodge, Anjo Caram, and Bong Quinto spoke superlatives about the mild-mannered import.

"Glad to have gone to war with him," added Trillo.

The Meralco coach recalled how Durham carried the Bolts to his broad shoulders in the three times they played in the finals as injuries hounded the team.