CHICAGO - While building his legend as a PBA player, LA Tenorio had extricated his beloved Barangay Ginebra from multiple perilous situations on the way to seven PBA championships with the Kings.
Now the newly-minted head coach at Magnolia, just 47 days into his new job, the 41-year old former Ateneo star already pulled off a massive feat.
He saved the Hotshots from losing its best player.
READ Zavier Lucero finally signs new Magnolis deal
Led by newly-installed team governor Jason Webb, a staunch ally and former player of SMC sports director Alfranchis Chua, Magnolia had been going back and forth with Zavier Lucero's camp trying to hammer out a contract extension since August.
Realizing that their future and potential to end a bruising seven-year championship drought was attached to the versatile forward's hip, the Hotshots wanted to lock in Lucero to a three-year deal.
FAIR MARKET VALUE.
According to my sources, the base salary plus perks and bonuses were very generous: North of P660,000 a month in Year One, Around P750,000 in Year Two and breaching P800,000 in Year Three.
Lucero's side, which never demanded an outrageous sum, appreciated the valuation. But with career flexibility in mind, they only wanted a two-year deal.
After his trade from NorthPort last July 2024, Lucero quickly became a force in his one year at Magnolia, averaging an all-around brilliance of 14.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists while being Top 2 in the league in blocks and Top 5 in 3-point shooting accuracy.
It's the kind of output that has placed the former UP Fighting Marron in the crosshairs of KBL teams looking for elite Asian imports. His departure would have left a gaping, hard to replace hole in the Magnolia frontline.
Not exactly thrilled with a six-conference fling, Magnolia reluctantly agreed and did so only with a two-year counter offer that slashed Lucero's salary by P50,000 a month in Year One and by P100,000 a month in Year Two.
HARDBALL.
Playing hard ball and threatening pay cuts are par for the course in the bargaining table. It's an effective tool that can, sadly, also become an expressway to the highway of bad faith.
Lucero stood his ground on a two-year deal with no slash in pay, an immovable position that created an impasse for weeks.
Until Tenorio stepped in to save the day.
Tenorio met with Lucero for lunch this past Thursday. Just the two of them, mano-a-mano, heart-to-heart.
Details of that meeting are scarce, no fly in the wall here. But two days later, before Magnolia started Saturday's morning practice, Lucero signed on the dotted line.
It took three to do this tango, Tenorio, Lucero, and Chua, who signed off on the deal with the tacit understanding that the SMC side can ill afford losing a high-performance, low-maintenance star.
It was a rough negotiation at the start but sweet in the end. And both sides can now head into the future feeling better for the experience.
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