Justine Baltazar will not see action in Korea anytime soon after the KBL has imposed a two-year ban due to breach of contract with the Samsung Seoul
The Korean Basketball League (KBL) did not take Justine Baltazar’s no-show lightly as the league imposed a two-year ban due to his reported contract breach as reported by Korean news outlet Jumpball on Thursday, February 9.
According to Korean publication Rookie Basketball Magazine, the KBL held a Finance Committee meeting on Thursday morning to go over the situation regarding the 6-foot-7 Gilas Pilipinas mainstay.
The committee decided on imposing a hard ban after Baltazar apparently did “not even [apply] for a visa at the [Korean] embassy,” despite sending the necessary documents in advance.
“Baltazar was scheduled to return to Korea on [February 1] after finishing the Dubai Invitational Tournament, but contact was suddenly cut off,” read the statement.
“As a result, Samsung could not register [Baltazar] as a player in KBL.”
During the KBL deadline registration, Baltazar was busy playing for Strong Group-Philippines in the Dubai club tournament, where the team bowed out in the quarterfinals last week, playing even the very day after the deadline.
Before playing for Strong-Group, Baltazar was fortunate enough to be given a second chance to play overseas after a botched stint with the Japan B. League’s Hiroshima Dragonflies – now the home of Filipino star center Kai Sotto – where he only played 13:36 minutes in eight games, with only two points, one rebound, one assist, and one steal.
Samsung Seoul then took interest in the agile player after the team had a tough time signing Asian imports such as William Navarro who failed to secure his release from his PBA team NorthPort, and Filipino-American Christian David who couldn’t play due to knee injury was released last December as reported by Sports Inquirer.
With this development, the De La Salle University product will still have decent options for his young professional career, including the most obvious choice of throwing his name back in the PBA draft where he can be offered one of the top spots in any team.
Tags: #KBL, #PBA, #basketball, #contract