For Jay Washington, burning bridges isn’t ideal especially in the PBA.
That’s what the 6-foot-7 forward realized when he returned to the TNT KaTropa for the third time in his career after being released by his former team Rain or Shine Elasto Painters during the PBA’s two-week break for the FIBA Qualifiers.
“Yeah, it’s my third time back here. Honestly, as a player, it’s a learning life lesson for me. Just feeling like this league is so small, the basketball world here is so small, for me to be able to come back here three times, I would say it’s a lesson to the other guys, the young guys, that you can’t take things personally and sometimes it’s a business decision,” said Washington, who spent his first three years in the league with TNT.
“You can’t leave a team and burn a bridge. Burning bridges, at this time of my career, I could be left with no team. I think that’s the main thing.”
Washington though admitted that he was confused at first with what happened to him in RoS, as there was hardly a communication between him and the team’s brass. But then, he soon understood that it’s all part of the business.
“There’s no communication as far as like… I was told one day and then I didn’t have any communication for like another month, like since this conference has been going on. There are no words to tell me what the situation was. Then a couple of weeks, they downgraded me to unrestricted so that’s what it was.
“Boss Raymond [Yu] gives the coach a free rein basically to do what he wants with his team and the fifteen guys that he wants on the roster. I’ve known boss Raymond since I first came out here to play in the PBL so I have a lot of love for boss Raymond and boss Terry [Que],” said the 37-year-old.
“All those guys and all those players, management – I appreciate management a lot over there, went to the office and I got to talk to boss and everything. No hard feelings,” he added.
Washington played his first game with TNT — and his first game this season — on Sunday night, coincidentally against Rain or Shine. He was utilized for 16 minutes and made six points, seven rebounds, an assist, and a steal.
Ultimately, he and the KaTropa won, 100-92, and snapped the Elasto Painters’ five-game winning run. But the two-time Best Player of the Conference awardee made it clear that he simply wanted to win, not because of some personal vendetta.
“I wanted to win obviously. Nothing personal, but still, just being on the other side obviously. I’m like whatever team I’m on, that’s how I play, it’s just my character,” said Washington, who won the 2015 Commissioner’s Cup with TNT.
“I’m going to do whatever to help my team. Given an opportunity, I’m going to do everything I can to be out there and try to help the team go.”
