GONE with the wind are the days that Filipino cagers won’t have second thoughts about answering the call of national team duty. Now, money before country? What gives?
PBA chairman Ricky Vargas, in a damning revelation last Monday, shocked the country’s basketball landscape by saying that two players, one of them through his agent, demanded money before agreeing to see action for Gilas in China.
Vargas refused to identify the two, whom he claimed wanted the moon.
At least two players who saw action for Gilas in the recent FIBA World Cup received millions of pesos each, according to the grapevine.
It turned out the Nationals did not need the two players that Vargas talked to as the country bagged the long-cherished gold medal, thanks to naturalized star Justin Brownlee, who did not ask for anything.
“Justin, he is not only a good player, si Justin kaya niyang pagalingin iyong teammates niya because he passes the ball,” San Miguel Corp. sports director and Ginebra governor Alfrancis Chua said.
“He is a team player. He understands basketball. He knows when to shoot,” he added.
Chua, who played a big role in Gilas’ golden triumph, gushed at Brownlee’s resolve in leading the squad to a one-for-the-ages victory against China in the semifinal, scoring a gutsy come-from-behind 77-76 squeaker.
Ranged against the Rondae Hollis-Jefferson-led Jordan, the Philippines essayed an 80-70 win in the title match to reach the Promised Land anew after more than half a century.
Chua said basketball-loving Pinoy fans, in appreciation of Brownlee’s efforts, have started calling him “Noypi” and have even jokingly called for him to run for president.
“Sa pagmamahal lang naman nila iyon kay Justin,” he said.
Under Republic Act (RA) 10699, or the “National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act,” Pinoy bets who won mints — pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena, jiu-jitsu’s Margarita “Meggie” Ochoa and Annie Ramirez, and the brave Gilas quintet — will get cash incentives.
While Obiena, Ochoa and Ramirez are set to become richer by P2 million each, Gilas players will receive P500,000 each because under the law, a squad winning gold in a team sport with five or more participants “shall receive twenty-five percent (25 percent) of the cash incentives for individual medal winners.”
Fans expect the winning Gilas players to receive hefty bonuses from the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, the MVP group, and the SMC group.
“Si boss RSA (Ramon S. Ang, SMC president and CEO) and MVP (Manny V. Pangilinan, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas chairman emeritus) na ang bahala sa bonus,” Chua said.
Fans now want the two players who demanded a lot of money before proving their worth to identify themselves. Speak up, please!
