Jimmy Alapag

Early life and amateur career

Alapag is the youngest of six siblings; his parents are Filipino immigrants from Leyte. He was born and raised in San Bernardino, California, and began playing basketball at age three. In his freshman year of high school he stood 4'9", and he nearly quit the sport in his second year before his coach persuaded him to continue.

As a senior at Upland High he averaged 15 points and nine assists. He played collegiate basketball at the University of La Verne, then transferred to a junior college and later to California State University, San Bernardino, where he became known as a clutch three-point shooter. In 2002 he tried out for the Philippine national team bound for the Asian Games in Busan but missed the tournament due to missing documents and a hand injury.

Professional career

Alapag was selected 10th overall in the 2003 PBA draft by the Talk 'N Text Phone Pals and was considered the steal of the draft after a hand injury lowered his stock. He signed a contract worth P11 million. In his rookie season he made his first All-Star game, won the Three-Point shootout, and helped the Phone Pals capture the All-Filipino Cup championship by overcoming a 0–2 deficit to the Coca-Cola Tigers. He finished the season averaging 14.5 points, 7.02 assists and 6.54 rebounds while shooting 35.4 percent from three-point range, earning Rookie of the Year by a wide margin.

In the 2004–05 season he earned his second mythical first team selection and shared All-Star Game MVP honors with Asi Taulava. He scored a career-high 39 points in a Christmas Day loss. The Phone Pals reached two straight finals but lost to Barangay Ginebra Kings in the Philippine Cup and to San Miguel Beermen in the Fiesta Conference. During the 2005 Fiesta Conference he recorded 12 assists in a win over San Miguel.

In the 2006–07 Philippine Cup he helped Talk 'N Text start with three straight wins, including an all-around performance against the Welcoat Dragons. That conference ended with a semifinal loss to Ginebra, and the Fiesta Conference saw the team fall to the Alaska Aces in seven games in the finals.

Coaching career

After wrapping up his international playing career, Jimmy Alapag quickly moved into coaching, first as an assistant for Gilas Pilipinas under Tab Baldwin and as a consultant for the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters. He stepped away from both roles when he came out of retirement to suit up for the Meralco Bolts. Once the 2015–16 season ended, he became a consultant for Meralco and later returned to the Gilas bench as an assistant under Chot Reyes. He also served as an assistant for the Gilas squad that played in the 2019 SEA Games under Tim Cone, and in 2019 he joined the San Miguel Beermen as an assistant coach.

Alab Pilipinas

In August 2017, Alapag announced on Instagram that he would take over as head coach of Alab Pilipinas in the ASEAN Basketball League, marking his first major head coaching gig. He guided the team to the finals, where they beat Thailand’s Mono Vampire Basketball Club in five games to claim the ABL title. The following season, Alab couldn’t repeat, falling to the Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions in the playoffs. In his third season, the team had a 10–6 record before the pandemic shut down the league, and Alapag then left for the United States.

Sacramento and Stockton Kings

In 2019, he reached out to Sacramento Kings general manager Vlade Divac about a coaching opportunity and was offered a spot on the Summer League staff. He sat out the next season because the Stockton Kings didn’t field a G-League team, but returned the following year as an assistant for the Kings’ Summer League squad, which won the 2021 championship.

He then became an assistant coach for the Stockton Kings. In August 2023, he was promoted to player development coach for the Sacramento Kings, a role he held until April 15, 2026. On June 29, 2026, he signed as head coach of the NLEX Road Warriors, taking over from Jong Uichico, and is set to make his PBA head coaching debut in the 2026 Governors’ Cup.

National team career

Alapag first played for the Philippines national team at the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship in Tokushima, Japan, where the team finished ninth. He was not selected by coach Yeng Guiao for the 2009 FIBA Asia Championship. He returned for the 2011 FIBA Asia Cup in Wuhan, China, helping a young Gilas Pilipinas reach the top four. In 2013 he helped the team win a silver medal at the FIBA Asia Championship, qualifying for the 2014 FIBA World Cup; he hit a clutch three-pointer in the game against South Korea.

At the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain he helped the team win its first World Cup victory in 40 years, scoring 18 points in a win over Senegal, and hit four three-pointers in a near-upset of Argentina. After announcing his retirement from the national team, he accepted another offer when Jayson Castro was declared unable to play in the Asian Games in Incheon. The team lost three consecutive games to Iran, Qatar, and South Korea, and Alapag retired from international basketball at the tournament's end.

Did You Know?

• Alapag recorded only one dunk during his PBA career despite an early-career 40-inch vertical leap.
• He and his wife run a YouTube channel called Alapag Family Fun, which has close to 200,000 subscribers.