Ginebra’s Abarrientos decries social media threats after crucial Game 2 miss vs Meralco

MANILA, Philippines -- Ginebra guard RJ Abarrientos cried foul on Friday evening after receiving some death threats after a narrow loss against the Meralco Bolts in their PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinal clash.

Abarrientos took the final shot of the game on Friday, missing a potential game-tying 4-pointer with time winding down.

Meralco then forced a rubber match in their best-of-three quarterfinal series, 108-104.

After the game, Abarrientos posted on Instagram that there were some people who messaged him and threatened him as they lost bets.

A social media user, seemingly a fake account, sent messages to Abarrientos saying the person will shoot him.

“400K TALO KO SA INYO! -5 PA KAYO MGA BONAK TAPOS IKAW DIMO PA KAYANG IPASOK YANG 4 POINTS,” the message read.

“BABARILIN KO KAYO NG ASAWA MO” another message read, followed by curse words.

The same social media user also commented that they “got people in and out of the stadium just to follow you around.”

In an Instagram story, Abarrientos said that he is “alarmed” with the messages.

“Naglalaro kami nang maayos, at trabaho namin ito, parte ng basketball ang matalo,” he said.

“Sa mga kapwa ko players, di dapat tino-tolerate yung ganito.”

PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial, for his part, said they have coordinated with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) regarding the matter.

“Nagkausap na rin kami ni RJ at nagkausap na rin kami ng management ng Ginebra. Nakita ko rin yung messages, nasa akin na kaya nakipag-coordinate na rin tayo sa NBI,” Marcial said.

“Pinoprotektahan din naman natin yung mga player natin sa ganyang mga bagay,” he added.

In the game, Abarrientos had 12 points and three assists in 33 minutes off the bench. He shot 5-of-15 from the field and 1-of-6 from deep.

Game 3 of the best-of-three quarterfinals will be on Sunday, 7:30 p.m., at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.