BELIEVE it or not, there have been a few instances in Philippine basketball history where a renowned athlete did not shoot the rock with his natural hand, meaning he grew up as a left-hander but subsequently turned to his right when playing ball.
One of the legendary left-to-right shooting greats was Fortunato (Atoy) Co Jr.
Co was a high school product of Philippine Cultural College. He became the King Cardinal from the Mapua Institute of Technology in the early 1970s and later starred in the post-graduate circuit Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association (MICAA) and the professional league Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) with the famed Crispa Redmanizers.
Co is now his alma mater’s fourth-year head coach in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) circuit.
Atoy, he of the “turnaround fadeaway jumper” fame, was a natural left-hander but became ambidextrous in basketball-playing because of an accident early in his life.
Growing up in Daet, Camarines Norte (I was there for a few days in 2003), the chinky-eyed Chinese mestizo broke a bone in his left hand at age seven and had no choice but to learn to shoot with his right.
“Siguro dahil sa pagkabali ng kaliwa kong kamay, hindi na ako makaasinta sa kaliwa,” recalled Co, who was known for his shooting prowess during his heyday.
“Kaya nag-aral akong tumira sa kanan. Pero ang maganda roon, naging magaling ako sa parehong kamay.”
The 6-foot-1 Co would dribble with his left hand and shoot his turnaround fadeaway jumpers with his right.
After his distinguished three-year stint with Mapua Tech in the NCAA, Co moved on to the MICAA and PBA while also donning the national colors during international stints (he starred for the PH 5 that snared the title during the 2nd Asian Youth Basketball Championship – now known as FIBA Asia Under-18 – in Manila in 1972 and was a member of national squad that competed in the 1974 Asian Games in Tehran, Iran).
Outside of basketball, Co, who turns 65 on October 15, still signs with his left hand until now.
Co’s story reminds me of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook, the intense All-Star guard who topped the American professional league National Basketball Association in triple-double games (double figures in three statistical categories during a game – points, rebounds and assists in Westbrook’s case).
The 6-foot-3, 27-year-old Long Beach, California native does everything with his left hand – sign autographs, brush his teeth, and throw a football – except shoot a basketball.