WITH LA Tenorio’s appointment as Magnolia head coach, does it also signal the end of his illustrious PBA career?
Well, not necessarily.
San Miguel Corp. sports director Alfrancis Chua admitted Tenorio, who just concluded his 18th season as a player in the PBA, didn’t explicitly say that he is retiring during their conversations in the lead-up to his appointment as Magnolia head coach.
READ Chua confirms LA Tenorio is new Magnolia coach
In fact, Chua said he even presented the idea of Tenorio being the playing coach of Magnolia.
But Tenorio said no, at least for now.
“Alam mo, to tell you frankly, sinabi ko sa kanya, after playing a good game ‘yung laro niya, I told him, 'Playing coach ka.' Sa akin, malaking impact ‘yun. Sabi lang ni LA, 'Wag na boss, baka i-boo ako ng Ginebra fans.'"
"Ang puso niya, nasa Ginebra pa rin,” said Chua.
Technically, Tenorio’s playing rights is still owned by Ginebra even after his appointment as Magnolia head coach.
The 41-year-old Tenorio showed that he still has it by being the hero of Game 6 of the PBA 49th Season Philippine Cup semifinals, which saw Ginebra defeat San Miguel on his clutch three-pointer in the dying seconds.
But while he isn’t ruling out Tenorio returning to the floor as a player, Chua admitted the difficult task of being a PBA fulltime head coach.
“He didn’t say that he is retired. He is not gonna hang his jersey. But, coaching is a very difficult job. Fulltime ‘yan eh,” said Chua on Monday.
READ Jason Webb named new Magnolia team governor
“Pero malay mo, maisipan niya, may ma-injure na point guard. Tapos paglaruin natin. Malay mo, may second [Robert] Jaworski. Hindi natin masasabi. We’ll see. Pag-uusapan namin, paplanuhin naman ‘yung maganda para sa career niya at sa future ng Magnolia,” said Chua.
Jaworski was the most successful playing coach in the history of the PBA.
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