ALASKA management has finally relented and allowed big man Sonny Thoss to join the regular Gilas-Pilipinas practice every Monday.
Coach Chot Reyes himself confirmed the latest development in the national team camp on his Twitter account @coachot.
“Good news! @Sonny_Thoss has been allowed to attend Gilas practice, but he can’t come tonyt as he has to attend to a fam emgcy in Cebu,” Reyes tweeted.
Over the weekend, reports came out that Alaska has refused to let the 6-foot-7 Thoss attend the national team’s practice until after the end of the Aces’ campaign in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
The issue has become a sensitive one especially since no less than the PBA board had agreed to lend at least one player per team to the Gilas squad that is vying in the iba-Asia world basketball championship qualifier to be held in Manila this August.
Under the agreement, the players chosen by Reyes will have to attend the national team’s practice that begins with a once-a-week session every Monday night.
But apparently, an internal agreement had given an exception to Alaska, which, even before Reyes made his selection public, had already informed both Gilas officials and the board that it will only allow its players to join Gilas practices after its last game in the Commissioner's Cup.
The agreement had been kept under wraps, perhaps for fear that it could cause another strain in the already fragile alliance among PBA teams over the Gilas buildup.
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