San Miguel has already reached out to Bennie Boatwright in a bid to address its sudden import problem in the ongoing PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup.
Team manager Gee Abanilla himself revealed that he has already contacted the naturalization candidate for a potential reunion as the Beermen are likely to move on from ex-NBA cager Justin Patton due to his “unprofessional” behavior.
“Cinontact ko na. Because of what happened, I was forced to get in touch right away with Bennie,” he told members of the press moments after their 120-101 blowout loss to Magnolia at the SMART Araneta Coliseum on Sunday,
“Sabi ko kay Boss Robert [Non], kung ganyan lang gagawin sa atin, might as well call Bennie right away,” the former mentor turned executive added.
SMB found itself recalling the same import that led them to the midseason joust’s title back in 2024 after Patton went AWOL and did not suit up, let alone appear, in their eventual defeat to the more complete Hotshots.
Abanilla confirmed that the 7-footer no longer showed up in practice after their 116-112 loss to Rain or Shine last Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Creighton product cited differing health reasons behind his absences and even committed to play Sunday, but was nowhere to be found in the Big Dome.
(C) PBA Images
“Totally unprofessional, and he left us hanging. Wala man lang kaming abiso, hindi kami nakapag-prepare na hindi siya lalaro,” he said.
“It was a total 180-degree turn. He was a nice person. But after that, ewan ko anong nangyari.”
With this, the Beermen are planning to take the appropriate actions against Patton, who was brought in to replace their original import, Marcus Lee.
“Hindi dapat pwede palampasin ‘to. Maraming repercussions for this,” Abanilla said. “Very unfortunate. Talagang nabigla kami sa actions niya.”
But while they assess their next steps to address the situation, San Miguel is at the same time doing the best it can to expedite Boatwright’s return to Manila.
Also eyed to become a part of the Philippine men’s national team, the 29-year-old forward is still finishing up his obligations with Daegu KOGAS Pegasus of the Korean Basketball League, in which they failed to reach the playoffs.
The KBL regular season concluded last April 8, with Daegu finishing second-to-last in the 10-team field with a 17-37 win-loss record.
“Hindi pa siya tapos sa mga exit interview niya,” Abanilla said. “But I told him, ‘Come over.’ May understanding kami. I’ll try to fly him in as soon as possible.”
San Miguel won’t play until next Sunday, April 19, versus NLEX, and the days in between will tell whether or not Boatwright will be available by then.
