CHICAGO — In the flood of happiness that followed Gilas Pilipinas’ win over Iran last Sunday, a famous tongue slipped.
While waiting for the press conference to start, Gilas coach Tim Cone whispered sweet somethings to Kai Sotto, offering to call the Miami Heat as a bridge to the NBA.
COLUMN: Kai's on fire but sorry, no Heat in his immediate future
The walls didn’t need ears. Open mics from the flock of media covering the FIBA event at the Mall of Asia Arena caught the sound bytes, which quickly became bitingly viral.
Three days and a few good nights of rest later we can now put this innocent pillow talk to bed.
“No,” Miami isn’t in Kai’s itinerary, his camp told me, adding that they have a plan to realize Sotto’s NBA dream and it requires no outside “help.”
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
So it’s safe to say, that at least for now, the Heat are probably on coach Tim’s “do not call” list.
“Open mouth, insert foot. Big mistake. I really talked out of turn,” Cone told me on Tuesday night.
Insisting that the convo wasn’t meant to go public, he explained that it was “a continuing conversation from the corridor and I was just euphoric.”
He thought none of the reporters were paying attention, but by by the time he realized that their mics were hot, it was too late.
“I’m stupid,” he described his verbal faux pas.
WE’VE ALL BEEN THERE BEFORE.
Don’t be too hard on yourself, coach.
We all know that the banter was harmless and well-intentioned, and certainly not meant to imply that you wield heavy influence on the Heat organization’s personnel decisions.
And you’re not stupid, coach. Not even silly.
You’re just human, just like us. Prone to mistakes when wrapped in a bubble of joy.
Now, pretty please, go keep winning games for our beloved Gilas Pilipinas.
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