Kent Salado suffers a setback
The worst fear of the Go for Gold Scratchers came true on Monday evening, as all-around combo guard Kent Salado re-injured the medial cruciate ligament in his right knee.
The injury was confirmed by Kent Salado and the officials of Go for Gold, and he will miss the entire 2018 PBA D-League Aspirants Cup.
With under three minutes left in the third quarter of Go for Gold’s opening game against the Gamboa-St. Clare Coffee Lovers on Monday afternoon, the 5-foot-9 guard went for a drive but could not get the proper lift. He tried to walk it off, but limped towards the audience section of the Pasig Sports Center.
“Parang may narinig nga siya na may tumunog daw,” shared Scratchers head coach Charles Tiu after their 75-68 win.
“We’re very worried.
“I think our PT said baka MCL ‘yun, so that might be a month or two, so that’s a big problem for us,” the youthful mentor added.
Salado finished the game with nine points, five rebounds, four assists, and three steals. He was immediately rushed to the Makati Medical Center afterwards. At around nine in the evening, the MRI showed that he had torn his ACL, as was initially reported by Tiebreaker Times. A second opinion, however, contradicted the initial diagnosis, showing only an MCL tear.
Prior to this, the native of Cagayan de Oro had suffered a partial tear on medial collateral damage on the same knee last October 10, 2017 during Arellano’s 85-79 win over the San Sebastian Golden Stags.
With this setback, Salado was also advised to not play in the summer leagues to fully recover in time for the NCAA Season 94 Seniors Basketball tournament.
“Okay lang para NCAA na ko makapaglaro,” he said.
“Mas importante naman yun.”
The 23-year-old averaged 19.1 points, 5.0 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.3 steals last season. He is eligible to enter the 2018 PBA Rookie Draft.
