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    COLUMN: Maliksi verdict is a miscarriage of hardcourt justice

    PBA history repeating its dumb, vicious cycle.
    Mar 5, 2023
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    PHOTO: Marlo Cueto
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    CHICAGO — I've never been fond of the PBA's irrational decisions when it comes to fining and penalizing players for their on-court behaviors.

    If my skin were layered in onions, I'd probably still be seeing a therapist over the indefinite ban the league once slapped on Calvin Abueva, a cruel punishment that stretched for 16 months.

    And here we go again. PBA history repeating its dumb, vicious cycle.

    For his involvement in last Friday's fracas with Converge player Barkley Ebona, Allein Maliksi of Meralco deserved to be punished.

    Violence cannot be condoned. Period.

    But here's where the PBA dropped the ball: It suspended Maliksi for one game and then fined him P75,000.

    Ebona, meanwhile, skated with a warning and a P5,000 fine.

    This is wrong. This is also a miscarriage of hardcourt justice.

    Allein Maliksi, Barkley Ebona

    IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO

    WHAT the PBA is telling us here is that Maliksi's culpability was 14 times worse than Ebona's. Which is absurd given that it was Ebona who nearly peeled off Maliksi's nose with a hard foul.

    I get the concept of a duty foul which Ebona did. It's a common ploy that teams, trailing by at least a possession, use to extend a game through free throws.

    But these fouls can be done less aggressively by simply wrapping an opposing player in a harmless, tender hug. What Ebona did instead was smack Maliksi so hard his soul almost left his body.

    The Dalai Lama wouldn't have flinched. But Maliksi is just like you and me, a lesser mortal who retaliates to a provocation.

    Did the PBA consider that? Did they understand that Ebona was the instigator? Did those who reportedly made the decision from Japan even bother to look at the video replays?

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    Converge issued a statement yesterday where they played the role of victims while decrying what they alleged as an "assault" to their player.

    The FiberXers are a good team with an excellent coach. But, boy, are they poor when it comes to choice of words.

    Maliksi did touch a portion of Ebona's neck but there was no MMA chokehold here. Three inches taller and at least 14 pounds heavier than Maliksi, Barkley Ebona was in no danger of great bodily harm.

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      THE ONLY ASSAULT HERE IS THE ASSAULT THIS HAPHAZARD VERDICT INFLICTED ON OUR COLLECTIVE COMMON SENSE

      As in the case with Abueva, when handing down penalties, the background of the offender is taken into consideration. Maliksi, a doting husband and father of two kids, who does not have a history of violence did not get that benefit of the doubt.

      Which makes his P75,000 fine so arbitrary and wildly unjust. Maliksi should have gotten the same punishment as Ebona.

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      Deputy commissioner Eric Castro wouldn't have done this, a source from Meralco told me. "Castro is fair and level-minded," he stressed.

      So who signed off on this?

      Take a wild guess.

      Either way, Meralco got shafted.

      And that's a crying shame because the Bolts, led by 11-time champion coach Norman Black, are a first class organization that has been nothing but a valuable asset since joining the league in 2010.

      Life is not fair.

      So, too, is the PBA.

      Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph

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      PHOTO: Marlo Cueto
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