Chris Ross and Jojo Lastimosa were quick to patch things up after being at the center of a heated spat during San Miguel’s eventual victory over TNT to take Game 3 of the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup Finals Sunday night.
The Beermen floor general said that the Tropang 5G team manager had already said sorry for the exchange that took place early in the third quarter, which, according to him, actually began with some fans in the stands.
“It wasn’t Jolas. It was some fans,” he told reporters moments after their gutsy 95-89 victory at the SM Mall of Asia Arena to seize the 2-1 series lead.
Ross and Lastimosa were seen talking to one another when play was stopped at the 11:08 mark of the said period after the former hurt his ankle.
The 40-year-old said the fans were rushing him to leave the playing court, which he found disrespectful given his situation at the time.
“I don’t know if it’s family members that are yelling at me, telling me to get off the court and hurry up. I’m hurt. I just think it’s disrespectful to talk to a player when he’s hurt and [you’re] rushing him off the court,” he lamented.
However, he chose not to respond since the heckling spectators were women, he said, but then came the cage legend, leading to the spat. Still, all’s well that ends well, as the adage goes, as both men eventually sorted things out.
“It was directed at the fans, but they were women. I don’t talk down on women, I respect all women,” said Ross, who had two rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
“And then Jolas got into it, so I got into it with him a little bit. But he came up to me after the game and apologized, and that was that,” he added.
Still, the 11-time league champion is hoping fans will show more respect for the players, especially those who were injured in-game.
“From fan to player, there should be a line drawn when someone’s hurt that you don’t talk to people that are hurt like that,” said Ross, who’s also been dealing with some tightness on his right Achilles heel.
#WATCH: IT’S THE FINALS 🏀
Chris Ross talks about the spat he had with TNT team manager Jojo Lastimosa#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/gKaTSpN12f
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— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) January 25, 2026
