Some were left puzzled by what Chris Newsome meant when he took to social media shortly after Meralco’s narrow defeat to Barangay Ginebra in their PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup semifinal opener last Friday.
The Bolts star went to X and posted a cryptic tweet somewhere along the lines of accountability but to whom it’s addressed remains a mystery.
“All I hear is apologies with no accountability. How fun!!!” he wrote in the aftermath of the 92-88 loss they suffered at the hands of their rivals.
All I hear is apologies with no accountability. How fun!!!
— Chris Newsome (@New11New) May 17, 2024
Newsome himself had a solid game with 21 points and 13 rebounds in Game 1 and even led the late-game rally that ultimately fell short.
The veteran combo guard sure has reasons to feel disappointed after dropping a close one. But what was that post about, really? At whom was it aimed?
Tiebreaker Times asked the man himself regarding the post, but he declined to answer what exactly his tweet was referring to.
“I am a big advocate of having accountability when it comes to certain things. Not gonna say what that tweet was referring to – it could be our locker room, it could be about the PBA, it could be a lot of different things,” he said.
But the 33-year-old did admit that he’s hoping for others to hold themselves accountable – and mean it – with that tweet of his.
“I like it when people, when they do make mistakes, they are accountable for, and they’re willing to admit it, and even the consequences that come with that, if they’re going to accept that, that says a lot about their character,” he said.
“One thing about that tweet is that if you’re gonna apologize or say sorry to me, I hope that you’re saying it with the utmost integrity and not just saying it because you just wanna say it to sweep things under the bridge. That’s it.”
Presumably, that tweet proved cathartic for Newsome. The two-time All-Star came through with another solid outing of 20 points to help Meralco take Game 2 on Sunday by way of a convincing 103-91 victory.
What he’s most proud of was the composure the rest of the squad showed, where they did not melt down even after losing a 17-point advantage.
“That’s part of what we talked about in practice, is having that poise, whenever it comes to closing out games. This is the PBA. We’re a competitive basketball league so no lead is really safe,” said Newsome.
“So you definitely can’t let your guard down at any point in time during the game,” he added. “But for us, it comes down to more focus so we can maintain that lead and minimize our mistakes because Ginebra’s really good at capitalizing whenever you’re making a mistake.”
