Whose side is SBP on?
CONTRACTS were supposed to make life simpler by holding people accountable to an agreement.
Thus, the entire Will Navarro saga can be boiled down to a player failing to honor a contract. The SBP people can wash their hands and say THAT THEY ARE NOT REALLY OUT TO STIflE a young player’s dreams. That’s the worst reputation they can get considering that they are supposed to protect and promote the welfare of young Filipino basketball prospects around the world. Their families may not feel so encouraged to see how Navarro lost his opportunity to play pro basketball in South Korea.
For every Caelum Harris that the SBP recruits, there are multiple Sage Tolentinos. That’s the angle that most basketball fans don’t know about. SBP doesn’t want to be seen as a pushover, and while they were on the right path from a legal standpoint, they should be wary on how this can affect Philippine basketball in the long term. But then again, long-term planning is not a forte of the SBP.
This is not to say that Will Navarro is not free from any culpability. He did sign a contract and he was actually on his way to join the Seoul Samsung Thunders while under contract with the SBP and PBA team NorthPort.
It’s just surprising that there were no negotiations or meetings between all sides (Navarro and SBP/NorthPort) that could not have resulted in a brouhaha that went trending on social media where the SBP came out as the villain. It even led to international players including Kai Sotto posting messages of support for Navarro.
Lose-lose situation
It’s obvious that Will Navarro is the big loser in this scenario. He is supposed to join a top Korean team where he could play his natural wing position, and likely to improve his shooting and overall team basketball IQ because of the Korean style of play.
This would even be a win for Gilas since Navarro is 6-foot-6, ideal size for a shooting wing or guard. In the PBA, especially with NorthPort, which owns his rights, he might be forced to play power forward. The Batang Pier is undersized, and they even lost Jamie Malonzo, an athletic wing player who could be an integral part of the franchise in the future. Of course, Malonzo got traded to Ginebra for Arvin Tolentino and draft picks. Tolentino now joins Kevin Ferrer and Art de la Cruz in NorthPort’s former collegiate stars club.
Both Gilas and Navarro are losers here, since the interest being protected is that of NorthPort. The fans are blaming the PBA for being the detriment of Gilas development. The SBP’s unpopular move to favor a PBA team may be something it would regret for a long time.
Ime Udoka scandal
In other basketball news, the NBA is being rocked by scandals involving coaches and owners. After Phoenix Suns majority owner Robert Sarver was suspended, it was announced that Boston Celtics’ head coach Ime Udoka will also serve a suspension. According to the announcement by Adrian Wojnarowski’s social media posts, the suspension was due to an alleged affair that Udoka had with two married women who are part of the Celtics organization.
It’s almost like a soap opera, and this may have an effect on the Celtics’ campaign to defend their Eastern Conference crown. The observation is that Udoka did such a fiNE JOB IN BOSTON, AS A LESSER COACH WOULD HAVE BEEN fiRED INSTANTLY. The (unconfirmed) allegation is that it involved a spouse of a team vice president.
The situation is very unfortunate as Udoka was great at his job, which led to his assistant Will Hardy securing a head coaching job with the Utah Jazz (poached by Danny Ainge). It’s likely that Udoka may leave the Celtics. It will be an awkward situation when he returns from the suspension, which could stretch throughout the entire season. It will simply be too awkward.