As Smart’s value mobile brand TNT celebrates its 25th anniversary, its basketball team TNT Tropang Giga has also hit a new milestone by dominating the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) with back-to-back championships.
TNT Tropang Giga is welcoming a new chapter by bannering a new name “TNT Tropang 5G” which it will officially unveil in the PBA All-Filipino Cup, due for kick off tomorrow, April 4.
A perennial finals contender, TNT Tropang 5G served masterclass wins in recent PBA history. The collective passion and heart they showed, particularly in the recent seven-game, overtime championship-clinching victory at the PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup Finals is a reflection of the team’s connection.
The same “Tropang 5G” connection that glues the team together also powers millions of Ka-Tropas all over the country.
As the winners of 11 PBA titles, TNT Tropang 5G carries two-and-a-half decades of bringing saya to millions of Filipinos.
“Sobrang saya na maging part ako ng milestone na ito ng TNT. The fans have been with us through the years, from the ups and downs. Lahat ng naa-achieve namin as a team, as an organization, lahat ng panalo namin - we dedicate talaga to the fans, sa mga KaTropa natin na tinuturing na rin naming second family namin,” says two-time Asia’s Best Pointguard Jayson Castro, who has played with the franchisesince being drafted in 2008.
“I feel blessed na mapabilang sa TNT kasi makulay ang history ng team. From the time nina Kuya Asi (Taulava) and Kuya Jimmy (Alapag) during the Mobiline/Talk ‘n Text Phone Pals from the early 2000s, nasubaybayan ko talaga kung paano sinundan ng PBA fans ‘yung team through the years. Salamat talaga nang marami kasi andiyan palagi ang mga KaTropa para sumuporta sa amin,” adds TNT power forward Calvin Oftana.
Recently crowned Finals MVP Rey Nambatac echoes, “It has been a tough series for us lalo na yung last one na umabot ng seven games tapos overtime pa. Pero gaya ng lahat ng KaTropa na sumusuporta sa amin, lumalaban para sa araw-araw na saya ang buong team.”
The Bisdak connection
Incidentally, Nambatac who hails from Cagayan de Oro and Oftana from Danao, Cebu are part of the core Tropang Bisdak being celebrated online. The others being Poy Erram (Cagayan de Oro), RR Pogoy (Minglanilla, Cebu), and Glenn Khobuntin (Cagayan de Oro).
According to Khobuntin and Erram, they talk in Bisaya on the court and this tradition did not just result to quality crucial plays but has reached the point when even Best Import awardee Rondae Hollis-Jefferson calls everyone “Dong.” RHJ even claims to One Sports that he knows “some Bisaya, too,” and says, “Ingat, Dong” to his teammates.
Online posts like “Congrats, mga Bisdak,” “Solid Bisdak!” and “Tropang Bisdak” trended on social media after TNT clinched its 11th PBA title last March 28.
The country’s biggest mobile brand
Like its basketball team, TNT continues to dominate as the country’s biggest mobile brand with close to 35 million subscribers as of end-2024. And to give back to its subscribers, TNT is reinforcing its commitment to bring saya to subscribers nationwide with its wider mobile network, more affordable and value-packed data offers, and more exciting experiences and perks.
“Today, TNT is a huge part of my pre-game rituals, especially during trainings and workouts. I use it to listen to music, stream inspiring basketball videos, get updated on the latest game trends, and of course to stay in touch with my family and supporters who always have our backs,” shares TNT forward and former PBA MVP, Kelly Williams.
KaTropas can expect more TNT 5G Max areas and more cell sites to be rolled out across the country this year to provide better coverage and ensure a leveled-up mobile experience as KaTropas enjoy their favorite online activities—from working or studying online, streaming their favorite teleseryes on their daily commute, watching the latest TikTok uploads of their celebrity idols, to playing mobile games with the whole tropa.
Switch to TNT 5G and be part of the Philippines’ biggest tropa! Discover more by visiting TNT’s official website at https://tntph.com/Pages/anibersaya2025.