CHICAGO - With a FIBA window opening up in late August and the Asian Games lurking soon after and another pair of away qualifiers to follow, it’s a hectic time for our men’s national basketball team.
As expected, several players have been asked to make time and effort in service of the flag.
In this go-round, though, no one is making a more difficult personal sacrifice than head coach Tim Cone.
READ June Mar going on Gilas farewell tour in coming FIBA window
“My son is getting married in San Francisco on September 5 and I’ll be missing it. We’ll be in Korea. Needless to say, that is not going well with my wife,” the concurrent Barangay Ginebra coach told me via text message on Monday.
“Not going well,” has got to be the understatement of the year given how gigantic a milestone weddings are to families.
Probably fair to assume that the lovely Mrs. Christina Viaplana Cone, a hair salon mogul who co-owns a plethora of Toni and Guy franchises in Metro Manila, feels a l little ruffled.
TOUGH CHOICES.
Hopefully, her rigid morning walks can shake off the disappointment.
Such are the travails that often adorn a charmed, albeit demanding, celebrity life.
“It’s all part of the job. My family has always understood that,” the 25-time PBA champion coach said.
While wedding bells echo around the “City of Hearts” 19 days from now, Cone will be in Korea, Gilas’ jump-off point prior to the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan.
Gilas is the defending champion in the biennial event event that will run from September 10 to 26.
REGIONAL DOMINANCE.
At stake is the Phillipines’ hoops supremacy in the region, a task laced with peril, no thanks to the absence of of players including Kai Sooto, Quentn Millora-Brown and Dwight Ramos.
“My wife will be there of course,” Tim said of his son’s upcoming vows, secure in the knowledge that Chris’ presence will be the tie that binds the Cones in this joyous occasion for their son and his beautiful bride.
With an unkind work schedule throwing a wrench on his personal calendar, Cone has no qualms about bearing the burden of this cross.
“I feel blessed with what I’m doing. I know that,” Cone stressed.
With this kind of wholehearted, unwavering commitment to duty, Gilas must feel blessed for having Tim Cone at the helm.
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