Taunting Converge’s import Jamaal Franklin with an obscene gesture, Magnolia Hotshot assistant coach Johnny Abarrientos was fined P10,000 according to PBA rules.
In Magnolia Hotshot’s debut game versus the Converge FiberXers in the PBA Governor’s Cup, things got a little heated between one of the assistant coaches and an import.
During the Sunday night game between Magnolia and Converge, Johnny Abarrientos was caught flashing an obscene gesture towards Converge’s import Jamaal Franklin with 1:05 left in the game.
The incident happened after Franklin’s three point shot that gave a comfortable 111-105 lead to his team and ultimately led the team to its unblemished record of 3-0 early in the conference.
According to the Tiebreaker Times, the PBA legend admitted that it was directed to the import after Franklin tainted the bench of Magnolia, telling them to “sit down” after making the rainbow shot.
“Nang-aalaska lang siya. Eh feeling niya, winning shot ‘yung tinira niya eh, tapos pinapaupo niya kami,” said Abarrientos.
The PBA board did not let this escalate into something more serious and immediately fined him P10,000 for the obscene gesture after league commissioner Willie Marcial said that he has expressed his regret over his end-game antics.
“Sorry siya nang sorry, very apologetic siya,” said Marcial.
“Fine siya ng P10,000. May rule sa PBA against that and may precedent na rin ng mga ganyang incident,” he added, reported PhilStar.
The former NBA player and the FiberXers seem unbothered by the incident as Franklin capped the eventful night with 26 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 blocks.
“I think they were a little mad on the three I took while I got to three fouls. But that had nothing to do with me. That’s with the ref,” Franklin said.
“They have a good team. They have a real, real coach, a great system and they play really well together,” he added, complimenting Magnolia.
Tags: #PBA, #incident, #basketball