University of the Philippines big man Malick Diouf was apologetic to National University forward Kenshin Padrones after an incident that occurred last October 7, 2023.
With 7:30 left in the third quarter of the said tilt, Diouf – the league’s reigning Most Valuable Player – accidentally struck Padrones on the head after he dunked the ball with his hand in a downward motion.
Padrones suffered a fractured orbital bone and could possibly be out for the entirety of the season.
For his part, Diouf felt remorseful about what happened.
“I just wanna say I apologized already to him already.
“I spoke to him on the phone. He told me he’s not feeling good. He’s going to get like surgery or something like that so I apologized to him and also to NU, the fans, and everything,” he said after UP’s 110-79 beatdown of UST on Saturday.
It should come as no surprise that the student-athletes themselves took the initiative for Diouf and Padrones to contact each other.
It may be a small act to do but it went a long way in trying to settle the situation.
“It’s through a friend like Nash (Enriquez), Omar (John). We all know each other,” the graduating Senegalese big man said.
