San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent handled Calvin Abueva's antics with true sportsmanship, taking the incident with a grain of salt, even though it became overly personal.
Gallent and Abueva got into a short heated exchange of words early in the fourth quarter of Game 2 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals which earned both of them a technical foul for verbal altercation.
The Magnolia veteran was about to be substituted by Rome Dela Rosa with 9:52 left and the Beermen leading, 83-60, when Abueva ran past Gallent on the sideline of the San Miguel bench.
Shortly after Abueva got on the Magnolia bench, the referees called a technical foul on him and Gallent.
Abueva never returned to the game which the Hotshots lost, 109-85. He finished with three points (1-of-7 from the field), seven rebounds, and two assists, and was actually caught on camera making a face following the incident with Gallent.
Asked later what Abueva told him that momentarily made him lose his cool, Gallent disclosed it was about his physical disability.
“Na bulag daw ako,” said the San Miguel coach.
Of course, it’s no secret Gallent lost his right eye in a motorcycle mishap back in 1988 and is currently using an artificial one.
“Its ok, that’s fine,” Gallent added.
Did he take the mocking personally? Gallent was asked.
“No. I’m blind, anyway,” said the San Miguel mentor with a hearty laugh.
What is clear though right now, is the Beermen are in sight of their 29th PBA championship as they now lead the best-of-seven series, 2-0, behind a winning margin of 16 points.
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