The TNT KaTropa condemned the racial gesture of San Miguel Beermen forward Arwind Santos during Game Five of the 2019 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals on Wednesday night.
Through a series of tweets Thursday, team manager Gabby Cui expressed disappointment in the former league Most Valuable Player for resorting to such tactics.
“Racism should never have a place in sports and in life. Even via ‘jokes or mind games’ … It’s sad that Arwind, who has so much experience and championships, will have to resort to that,” it read.
Cui also wrote that Santos should have thought of some of his fellow Beermen like Matt Ganuelas-Rosser, Chris Ross, and Chris McCollough before acting that way.
“He should know better and look at his own teammates before doing those actions,” he continued.
“It’s disrespectful even to them.”
Now, the flagship MVP franchise hopes that the league will look into the matter deeply.
“The PBA should look into this incident closely. It’s not what our league is about,” Cui wrote.
Broadcast cameras caught Santos mimicking a monkey after Jones committed a turnover with 1:05 left in the second quarter, while the SMB player was on the bench.
Santos revealed after the match that league commissioner Willie Marcial and SMB coaches had warned him for his actions, but he would not apologize to the former NBA cager.
Jones has also condemned the 13-year pro’s antics and hopes the league will take “significant actions”.
