Robert Vincent Salazar Jaworski Sr. (; born March 8, 1946) is a Filipino former professional basketball player, head coach and politician who served as a Senator of the Philippines from 1998 to 2004. He played 23 seasons in the Philippine Basketball Association. He is widely regarded as one of the best and most popular PBA players of all-time. He was named part of the PBA's 40 Greatest Players and was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 2005. Early life and college career Born to an American father of Polish descent, Theodore Vincent Jaworski and a Filipino mother of Ilocano descent, Iluminada Bautista Salazar. Jaworski grew up in the streets of Manila where he was first introduced to basketball, rising to prominence in the collegiate leagues, where in 1964, he played for the University of the East Red Warriors in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). Jaworski delivered outstanding performances in the 1965 and 1966 UAAP seasons resulting in back-to-back titles for the Recto-based Red Warriors. In 1966, Jaworski was part of the amateur selection sent to represent the country in the 1966 Bangkok Asian Games. The following year, he represented the country in the Asian Basketball Championship (now FIBA Asia Cup) in Seoul, South Korea where the Jaworski-led Philippine team won the gold medal at the expense of the host country. Amateur career In 1967, he joined the Elizalde-owned YCO Painters under coach Carlos Loyzaga. He played for YCO during the 1967 National Seniors and National Invitational (both won by YCO). He transferred to the newly formed Meralco Reddy Kilowatts in 1968 but was unable to play due to lack of release papers. He finally suited up for Meralco in 1970. His first MVP award was during the Presidential Cup of 1970. In 1971, he and Alberto "Big Boy" Reynoso were banned for life by the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) for assaulting two basketball officials, Eriberto Cruz and Jose Obias, who were ostensibly making a series of bad calls that seemingly favored the Crispa-Floro team. Reynoso and Jaworski chased the two officials on the court and mauled them in front of the crowd. Meralco was behind 65–50 against the Redmanizers. Meralco disbanded the team shortly afterwards. The two sure shoo-ins for the RP team to the 1972 Olympics missed the national team for the first time in their lives. Owing to the talent that