James Yap is a perfect athletic specimen born on the 15th of February, 1982. His parents are Carlos and Annie. He is a well-known Pilipino basketball player. He stands at an astounding height of over six feet and is 192 pounds with a perfect build for basketball. In college he studied business. When he was little he was found most often in the field playing different types of sports. His uncle noticed something great in him and thought he had a big future being a basketball superstar. He was definitely right, James got trained in basketball and he proved to be one of the most promising players of his generation in Philippines.

During high school he played for the Bacolod Tay Tung team and proved to be a great asset to the team. Because of his great talents he was transferred to another school, Iloilo Central Commercial High School and his team received the Iloilo PRISAA title for three consecutive tournaments.

Later he played for many teams in the Philippines. He is known for his quick movements and passing skills. James has led the UE team to several victories over the past few years.  Also in the UAAP tournament he led the team to the semifinals but they lost against another exceptional team. He was recognized as the most valuable player during this tournament and the coaches, other players and the media all voted him as the top player with the most potential. This was a great honor for James and his family.

He and another teammate joined with other UAAP and PBL teams to lead the Philippines teams to the 2003 Southeast Asian Games where they won the gold medal. After this he gained recognition and was honored with the “The Best Basketball Player” by the Philippines Sportswriter Association. During 2001 and 2004 he played in the Philippine Basketball League. In 2004, James joined a conference with the Welcoat Paintmasters, with Jojo Tangkay, and lead his team, again, to the semi finals but lost against Peter June Simon. He then joined the PBA draft in 2004. Between 2004 and 2005 he had to slow down considerably because of a shoulder injury. However, after a short time he was back at it again showing the same spark he had before his injury.

From 2005 to 2006 he was in the peak of his performance and was ranked fourth among players from all over the world. From the 2009 to 2010 season he was, again, crowned as “The Best Player of the Conference” (BPC) in the Philippine Cup Championship, 2010.

Yap got married to the daughter of a past senator. They got married in 2005. He had to face some issues regarding some rumors of another relationship with a receptionist, but these rumors did not last for long. James and his wife had a son in April of 2007 which they named James as well. He has a strong bond with his family and he is equally dedicated to his basketball career.