Joshua Munzon is hardly distracted by all the noise surrounding his future with NorthPort, despite the major changes that have taken place recently.
The two-way specialist chooses to focus on what he can control, even as he saw his name thrown into the rumor mill shortly after the Batang Pier traded William Navarro to Magnolia for Calvin Abueva and Jerrick Balanza, plus a future pick.
“It’s not my job,” he told Tiebreaker Times, smiling. “My job is to play basketball. I’m just focused on playing basketball. and getting better every conference.”
The trade, which was ratified by the PBA last Tuesday, marked the second time in about 10 months that NorthPort sent away a potential franchise pillar.
The team shipped Zav Lucero to the Hotshots as well, in exchange for Jio Jalalon and Abu Tratter back in July of last year.
Still, the charges of Coach Bonnie Tan did just fine after letting go of the 6-foot-6 wing when they reached the semifinals of the Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup.
But over two months after that historic run, NorthPort traded another budding star in Navarro in a deal that added more youth and size to a Magnolia side that’s leading the ongoing Philippine Cup with a 7-1 record.
And soon, the club could possibly be hitting the reset button altogether after main man Arvin Tolentino, the reigning Commissioner’s Cup BPC, decided to leave the league and take his talents to the Korean Basketball League.
The Far Eastern University product signed a three-year deal with Seoul SK, and the Knights themselves announced the development on Friday — mere hours before the Batang Pier’s match against TNT at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
While some within the organization already knew of it, there’s no denying that it’s still a tough blow for a group that’s been spiraling this conference.
In fact, they’re already out of contention.
They’ve lost their seventh straight after absorbing a 94-70 beatdown at the hands of the Tropang 5G.
The predicament they have gotten into only adds to the speculation that Munzon could be the next to be moved by NorthPort, taking into account that the trade deadline is set on June 2, as Tiebreaker Times learned.
But the former top 3×3 player in the country would rather pour all his attention on basketball and basketball alone, since that’s his livelihood at the end of the day.
“Just personally, just doing my job, and staying professional,” said Munzon, who finished with 20 points versus TNT. “And, proving that I deserve to be here and that I wanna get better no matter what’s going on around me.
“We get paid to do a job and right now I’m just focused on going out there and contributing for my team and giving us as close of a chance we can to win games.”
#WATCH: “WE ARE HAPPY FOR OUR GUYS”
Despite their current predicament, Joshua Munzon says he’s happy to see Arvin Tolentino and William Navarro in a better place in their careers 🏀
📹@justinebacnis/ Tiebreaker Times#PBA2025 pic.twitter.com/mZ1ShFgTGa
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) May 30, 2025
