Slaughter seeks U.S. jab

Greg Slaughter will be flying to the United States in the coming days to get vaccinated in preparation for the 46th season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

NorthPort head coach Pido Jarencio broke the news, saying that the seven-foot slotman opted to get vaccinated abroad to make sure that he will be fit and ready for the PBA wars.

The Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases had already issued the green light for the vaccination of Filipino athletes.

But the agency is giving priority only to those who will be seeing action in the 31st Southeast Asian Games and other members of the national team.

Although there are reports that some professional athletes were already jabbed, they are still not officially part of the Priority A4 Group, prompting Slaughter to consider the option of flying to the US to get his shots.

“He will go to America anytime this week. I think he will be vaccinated there,” Jarencio told Daily Tribune in a telephone conversation.

“He already talked to the management about his plan and they allowed him to go.” The upcoming season could be a breakout year for Slaughter.

After getting tapped as the top overall pick in the 2013 draft, Slaughter emerged as a four-time champion and five-time All-Star with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.

He, however, had some differences with the Kings, prompting him to pack his bags for the US.

Slaughter sat out the Philippine Cup last year before getting traded to NorthPort in a blockbuster deal in exchange for Filipino-German Christian Standhardinger.

Jarencio said Slaughter had shown signs of improvement and is slowly jelling with his new team.

In fact, the Batang Pier are running smoothly with Slaughter at the middle and the inclusion of rookies Jamie Malonzo and Troy Rike.

“Our team is not yet complete so we’re still looking forward to a consistent training,” Jarencio said.

“So far, Jamie has trained with us for only two days, then Greg will be leaving while Troy is still in quarantine. It is a bit of a problem for us.”