Just because they’re leaving doesn’t mean they won’t fight anymore.
Alaska team owner Wilfred Uytengsu vowed that his Aces will still compete the best they can as the storied ball club aims for a graceful exit from the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) after over three decades.
And hopefully, he said, they could leave with their 15th championship ring.
“As I told the team today, we still have one more conference to get our 15th ring,” said the ever-competitive executive during a virtual press conference organized by the team.
“So, I am not throwing in the towel yet.”
The ongoing 2022 Governors’ Cup will be the final curtain call of Alaska, which shook the entire local sports scene to the core following Wednesday’s announcement that it is retiring from the league after 36 years.
So stunned were the players as well with the sad news, said Uytengsu.
Photo by PBA Images
“We called a Zoom. Jeff Cariaso and the coaching staff, all the players were there. I was on the other side of the screen, and to be honest, the reaction was silence because they were very stunned by the news,” he shared.
“There is never a good time to break this news.”
The two-time PBA chairman’s main concern now is how the team could be of help to all the people that will be affected by the decision, although he assured that all contracts will be honored and taken care of.
Yes, from the players all the way down to the utility men.
“We want to make sure that we continue to help them, and we will provide support for them,” said Uytengsu. “We’ll honor their contracts obviously for those who still have contracts. That’s my first priority.
“Something like this is always a difficult concept to appreciate, and I know their immediate concern is what’s going to happen to me and to my career. Dickie [Bachmann] and Jeff are going to work with the players, and try to help them.
“We’re going to do everything we can to put ourselves in their shoes. I rehearsed this a dozen times thinking how do you make this palatable, and there isn’t, and I’m sorry about that,” he continued.
Part of their commitment, according to Uytengsu, is keeping the team intact until the very end, unlike what some clubs in the past have done where they traded away players before leaving the league.
“I have no intention of dismantling the team before the end of the conference,” he said. “Every player on our team would like to win a championship ring in their last dance, and we’re not going to do anything to jeopardize those chances.
“You’ve known us as a franchise. We’re going to do the right thing,” the first PBA Press Corps Lifetime Achievement Award recipient added.
“The right thing by the franchise, the right thing by the players, and we’re not going to derail it.”
