No hostage situation

Purefoods’ decision to bench import Marquin Chandler in the second half of the Tender Juicy Giants’ 93-89 loss at the Araneta Coliseum last Sunday was meant to preserve the integrity of the game.

It wasn’t easy biting the bullet particularly as losing had the painful consequence of bowing out of contention in the PBA Fiesta Conference. But in sports, winning isn’t everything – it’s how you win, or lose, that counts.

Chandler didn’t deserve to play in the second half. That was the bottom line. It wasn’t meant to rob the fans of watching an even game. On the contrary, it was to make sure the game would be played at the highest competitive level.

Besides, it’s not a sure thing that an import-less team will always lose to a team with an import. San Miguel Beer and Barangay Ginebra proved it this conference.

Chandler didn’t seem like he wanted to play at all. As usual, he started the game, the rubber match between Purefoods and Rain Or Shine to determine which team would advance to the semifinals against Ginebra. But from his body english, you could tell his heart wasn’t in the action.

At least twice he drove against a phalanx of defenders and was nowhere close to making a basket. Was he provoking an offensive foul? He took two three-point attempts and missed them both. He looked disinterested, walking upcourt instead of sprinting to get in position where he could demand the ball.

Then, Chandler got dysfunctional. He got into a shoving contest with Jay-R Reyes who’s not exactly the most physical player in the league. While waiting for a free throw, Chandler didn’t even try hiding his push on Reyes with a forearm. He was whistled for a technical foul, like he begged for it. On another occasion, he jumped on Reyes’ back in a fight for the loose ball and tried to spike it away from his hands. Another clear foul. Chandler appeared to be playacting, like he was showing disgust to camouflage a plan to foul out in a hurry.

In Purefoods’ previous game, Chandler hit two free throws with less than two seconds left to lift the Giants to an 84-82 win. That was 12 days before the rubber match. The PBA took a break to give way to the SEABA Championships in Medan.

During the break, Chandler reportedly asked Purefoods management if he could go back to the US and bring home his wife who is seven months pregnant. Because of the proximity and importance of the rubber match, coach Ryan Gregorio said no. But a PBA source mentioned that Gregorio told Chandler if he really had to go, he could and the Giants would just find a replacement import. Chandler chose to stay.

If Purefoods won last Sunday, the Giants would’ve gone on to play Ginebra in a best-of-7 semifinal series, meaning Chandler would’ve stayed in town for at least four more games, assuming no replacement. He probably didn’t like the idea of hanging around longer than he cared to. The solution in Chandler’s mind could’ve been to just lose the game by playing listlessly and go home.

Chandler, who was the PBA’s best import when Purefoods went to the Finals against Red Bull in 2005-06, had forgettable numbers in last Sunday’s contest. He had two points, four rebounds and three turnovers in 15 minutes. Chandler was 1-of-7 from the floor, including 0-of-2 from three-point range. Did he deserve to play in the second half with stats like those?

If Chandler was out to lose, the Giants wanted no part of the plot. They went out to play with an All-Filipino lineup in the second half and nearly beat Rain Or Shine. When the smoke cleared, the Giants walked out of the court with their heads unbowed. They made a strong statement that no team will ever be held hostage by a player, whether import or not.

Purefoods must be commended for sacrificing what could’ve been a semifinals ticket to preserve the essence of honesty, sportsmanship and honor in playing the game.

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In yesterday’s column, we extrapolated Kobe Bryant’s career points if he were to play until he’s 40. For the record, Bryant turned pro at 18 in 1996 and has now scored 23,820 points in 13 regular seasons. That’s an average of 1,832 points a season. Of course, it must be mentioned that Bryant has scored at least 2,000 points in each of the last four seasons.

Bryant, 30, could play until he’s 40 – Michael Jordan’s age when he retired in 2003 after playing in 15 seasons. Bryant, whose birthday is Aug. 23, 1978, would be 40 at the end of the 2018-19 season (assuming the end of the season is June, he would be two months short of turning 41) – meaning he could compile 18,320 more points in 10 years to bring his total to 42,140 in his 23rd season.

Jordan turned pro at 21 in 1984 and didn’t play in 1993-94, 1998-99, 1999-2000 and 2000-01. At an average of 2,152 points a season, he could’ve jacked up his career total to 40,903 adding the four missing years. That would’ve increased his playing seasons to 19. Bryant’s advantage is he turned pro three years younger than Jordan.

But more than career points, the true test of superstardom is how many titles a player will end in his career. Jordan finished with six. Bryant now has four with a lot more years to go in eclipsing Jordan’s collection.