JIO Jalalon was baffled after the PBA fined him for an offense that he said was a result of an instruction by a game official.
The league on Monday slapped the Star rookie with a P1,000 fine for “pulling down his shorts while in the free-throw line” during their game Philippine Cup game against Alaska last Wednesday.
Jalalon, however, said he simply followed an order from a referee who told him to tuck his jersey.
“Nagulat nga ako,” the Hotshots playmaker said after practice on Tuesday. “Sabi nung referee, 'I-tuck in mo ‘yan tapos binaba ko, syempre ang sikip ng shorts ko eh, kaya ayun.”
The former Arellano star said he had to pull down his pants in order to tuck in his shirt since he wears shorts that are tighter and shorter that those preferred by most young players.
So imagine his surprise when the fine was announced on Monday - the second of his PBA career after he was fined for pointing an accusing finger toward a game official in the game against Ginebra on Christmas Day.
He chalked it down to rookie mistake.
“Hindi ko nga alam eh. May fine pala ako,” he added. “Na-rookie mistake ako.”
The Star freshman's penalty was part of another cache of punishment announced by the Commissioner's Office on Monday, which included the P25,000 fine on Mahindra enforcer Mark Yee for a flagrant foul on Meralco's Baser Amer.
In all, a total of P510,000 in fines have been handed out by the Commissioner's Office since the start of the Philippine Cup last November 22.
[See Yee fined P25K for foul on Amer; mild-mannered Compton not spared from penalty]
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