LA Tenorio is officially listed as playing head coach for Magnolia.
Tenorio, the longtime Barangay Ginebra guard who was named to replace Magnolia coach Chito Victolero in the PBA offseason, was not only listed as head coach but also included in the Hotshots line-up on the injured/reserve list.
READ Rafi Reavis belies posts of him bad-mouthing LA Tenorio
Tenorio later confirmed that he is part of the Magnolia roster submitted to the league, and even joined practices on Friday.
PBA teams are allowed a 15-man lineup plus one player on its injured/ reserve list. The rest of the players under contract are officially unresticted free agents.
In Tenorio's case, Magnolia, by placing him on the injured/ reserve list, secured his playing rights, opening the door for a possible return to the court.
Tenorio made it clear that his focus is on coaching and does not intend to play, unless needed.
“From time-to-time, sumasali ako ng practice. You’ll never know. I’m part of the line-up. I’m part of the injury list. We’ll see. It depends on the management,” said Tenorio.
“I’m not focused on that. My rights is with Magnolia now. I saw the final line-up that we submitted the other day and I was on the injury list. So I have a chance. May chance. But we will see.”
The 41-year-old Tenorio joins a rare list of playing coaches in the PBA, the most recent being Robert Jaworski who essayed that dual role at Ginebra from 1985 to 1998.
Tenorio is under no illusion that it is easy to juggle playing and coaching.
“But it’s a hard decision for me because siyempre, nagko-coach ako and at the same time naglalaro ako. There’s only one person who can do that and that’s Coach Sonny,” said Tenorio.
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