PHOENIX big man Chris Lalata will be handed a P5,000 fine for the technical foul slapped on him for his hit on Barangay Ginebra import Justin Brownlee in the two teams' PBA Commissioner's Cup game on Friday night,
PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said the penalty was automatic after the technical committee upheld the call, but added that league officials have found no reason to upgrade the penalty after a video review of the incident.
[READ: Why Brownlee lost his cool over Lalata hit]
Brownlee confronted Lalata after the hit in one of the rare times that Ginebra's resident import lost his cool in a game.
Although television replays couldn't establish what got Brownlee's goat, technical officials have established that the hit to the import's face came on a 'second motion' after Lalata was already whistled for a foul.
Still, Marcial said Lalata will not be summoned and technical officials did not see any reason to change the call on the floor.
"We found nothing malicious in the act," said Marcial told SPIN.ph.
The 6-5 rookie center out of St Francis of Assisi and Olivares College has no priors in the PBA but figured in a controversy during the 2020 Chooks to Go President's Cup where his landing spot foul led to a Juan Gomez de Liano injury.
Lalata, picked at No 16 overall by Phoenix in the last rookie draft, was given a stern warning by the 3x3 league after an apology.
He was also handed a one-leg suspension by his team Bacolod Master Sardines to 'ease the tension' in the tournament.