NorthPort team manager Pido Jarencio has been fined P20,000 by the PBA Commissioner’s Office for his verbal altercation with Thomas Robinson.
The veteran mentor was also issued a stern warning as the league finally decided on the matter, with the former NLEX import no longer available to be summoned after being given the pink slip by the Road Warriors due to disciplinary reasons.
Commissioner Willie Marcial disclosed the development Wednesday following a consultation with the PBA’s technical committee.
Jarencio, 59, has been hogging the headlines for hurling grave threats towards Robinson moments after the Batang Pier’s Commissioner’s Cup loss to NLEX exactly a week ago at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The two figured in a shouting match as both teams entered the dugout before cooler heads defused the situation, which included Marcial.
“You are one bullet, I will shoot you later… Happy New Year,” the concurrent UST head coach was heard saying.
The heated encounter stemmed from the third quarter, when Robinson and sophomore big man JM Calma were being physical with one another at the 5:15-mark before NorthPort team governor Erick Arejola stepped in.
Arejola entered the court and pointed his finger at Robinson, who was talking to the referee at that time. Jarencio would get involved shortly after and was seen on the broadcast cameras saying something towards Robinson.
It would then spill all the way to the Big Dome tunnel but both teams eventually patched things up, with Arejola approaching NLEX head coach Frankie Lim.
Jarencio, though, had said in reports that he’d apologize to Robinson over what happened.
That, however, may no longer take place as the former NBA forward is no longer with NLEX, whom he left with an even 2-2 record.