ORLANDO - It's still a bit early to tell but if initial signs are a gauge, Rober Bolick Jr. will have a blast playing in Division 2 of the Japan B.League in the next two seasons.
The former NorthPort star arrived in Japan last week with his lovely bride Cassandra and the Fukushima Firebonds rolled out the red carpet for the sweet-shooting third overall pick of the 2018 PBA draft.
"They put Robert and his wife in a nice two-bedroom house and he has been provided with his own car," a source close to the 6-foot-1, 175-pound all-purpose guard told me in a telephone interview from Tokyo.
Bolick, according to the source, has begun practicing with his teammates in Koriyama where the Firebonds play their home games.
Although the 27-year old Bolick is still trying to navigate the trapeze act of learning to speak Japanese, the language barrier isn't going to be an issue as it pertains to communicating with the coaching staff.
The Firebonds head coach is Enrique Zuniga, a longtime member of the Mexican national team. English will be the team's main mode of communication.
SETTLING IN
I pried about how Bolick is adjusting to the food and he seems to be doing just fine.
"Automatic yan. Sarap ng mga pagkain dito," the source said.
In a place where ramen and sushi are celebrated by food critics as the best in the world, it's almost impossible to disagree.
As for the money, this was what I was told.
"Robert was a max player in the PBA so he wouldn't have left for less than that. He pulls between $25,000 to $30,000 a month and his two-year contract is fully guaranteed."
In today's dollar exchange rate, Bolick pulls up to P1.68 million a month, more than enough to blunt the inconveniences of homesickness and having to toil in a foreign land.
When people leave their jobs for another, the motive is usually rooted in the pursuit of greener pastures.
In Bolick's case, he might have actually found what he was looking for.
ERRAM AND AHANMISI UPDATE
Although he will be out "several months," the injury that will keep Poy Erram out of the World Cup and the upcoming Commissioner's Cup in the PBA is not that concerning, a person with close ties to the player told SPIN.ph.
"It's a knee issue but definitely not an ACL tear."
Erram, I am told, has a live contract through 2024 and that the 6-foot-8 big should be able to play in the second conference.
Meanwhile, unrestricted free agent Maverick Ahanmisi is still in the US to attend to a family situation supposedly related to his grandmother. The timeline on his return to Manila is still September.
But multiple sources are now telling me that Maverick could have already signed a deal with the San Miguel bloc.
It's hard not to believe.
Why would Maverick, who is financially savvy and is smart as a whip, just sit for almost three months now without getting paid.
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