The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) will continue to investigate the pre-game scuffle that occurred prior to Game Two of the 2022 Philippine Cup quarterfinals between Ginebra and Meralco last Friday.
Commissioner Willie Marcial said that he had already spoken to Christian Standhardinger about the matter on Sunday, hours before the rubber match between the Kings and the Bolts at the Mall of Asia Arena.
He will now wait to hear the side of Franky Johnson before coming up with a decision on the two players. The young guard was not able to appear before the league chieftain as he was caught in traffic going to the venue.
“Si Christian nakausap ko, sinabi niya ano nangyari. So ia-assess namin sa mga nakakita, at kung may video ba tayo,” Marcial told reporters.
“Si Johnson naman, naipit sa traffic … Gusto kong malaman muna side ni Franky,” the league chieftain furthered.
The two reportedly almost came to blows due to a ball-throwing incident during the pregame warmups at the FilOil EcoOil Centre.
No untoward incident took place but they were talked to by the league’s technical officials, led by Deputy Commissioner Eric Castro.
It added to the animosity between the rival teams, where the physicality went up a notch in Game 2 that the Barangay eventually won, 94-87, to tie the series.
—
The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
