What happened to Nap Gutierrez? Tributes pour in as veteran sports columnist passes away

Well-known sports columnist Nap Gutierrez recently passed away at the age of 62 on June 29, 2023. He was suffering from some illness, which eventually led to his demise. Nap also suffered from a heart attack before the Covid-19 pandemic and was using a wheelchair until the time of his death.

Several people who knew Gutierrez and his work over the years paid tribute to him on different social media platforms. News personality Akosii Gan shared a post on Instagram in Filipino. The translated version of the post says that Nap was the first showbiz/sports columnist he met in his first year in the broadcast industry.

"He had a program on DWIZ back then and he used to invite me to watch basketball on @pbaconnect back then but I couldn't accommodate him because I had a radio program at night. On July 13, 2022, I received a text message from him asking for financial help because he had a heart attack. No matter when, even far away, a Nap Gutierrez never changed. And now you can rest well. Rest in Peace Nap. Enjoy your journey."

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Nap Gutierrez was the host of a weekly noontime show and other popular shows over the years

Also known as Napoleon "Nap" Gutierrez, the veteran journalist worked at the Pilipino Star Ngayon and PM as a writer of weekly columns. He was also the editor of the magazine, Basketball Weekly.

Basketball Weekly became so popular at one point that he made a weekly noontime show based on it, that aired on Saturdays from 12 to 1 pm on RPN-9. The journalist pursued his career as a player agent and signed a contract with the Purefoods franchise in 1991. It was one of the biggest player contracts in the league.

He previously worked at The Builder as a sports editor and even tried his luck in basketball, reportedly playing for the Mapua Cardinals in the NCAA. Former team member of the Mapua Cardinals, Jojo Peralta, also confirmed the same and said:

"He only watches the team because he is a writer for the school paper. But when the team practice breaks or ends, we let them dunk."

Nap Gutierrez worked at Movie Magazine as a movie writer and talk show host. He was known for his work in the talk show Eye to Eye, and before his death, he was a publicist to various PBA players and athletes, including Terrence Romeo.

Nap was active on Twitter with around 105,000 followers and his bio stated,

"Basketball is life... My life."

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Netizens pay tribute on Twitter

Nap Gutierrez gained recognition for his work in different publications over the many years he spent in the industry as a reputed journalist. Naturally, people were heartbroken to learn of his passing. Twitter was flooded with tributes when people heard about his demise.

Detailed information on Nap's family is not available at the time of writing this article.

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The news of Nap Gutierrez's death comes after Mario Dumaual's demise on July 5 at the age of 64. The latter died from complications of septic shock and had a fungal infection, according to his family. He was known for his work in the newspaper Malaya and the Philippine commercial broadcast network, ABS-CBN.