CHICAGO - In a game where he was a harmless participant, scoring just 4 points in 19 minutes while going 0-for-6 from the field, Calvin Abueva somehow made the headlines.
For all the wrong reasons.
In the first quarter of Magnolia's recent 87-77 loss to Barangay Ginebra in the PBA Philippine Cup, Abueva was captured flipping a middle finger on live TV, offending thousands of mortified viewers at home.
READ Abueva summoned by PBA for dirty finger on live TV
And because the incident occured on Easter Sunday, it resurrected Abueva's well-documented history of misdeeds and misdemeanors.
In the Commissioner's Cup Finals two months ago, Abueva was similarly busy with his antics. He drew a P100,000 fine for mocking the artificial eye of San Miguel Beer coach Jorge Gallent and he also received a "stern warning" from the league for a tunnel quarrel with SMB backup center Mo Tautuaa.
I like Calvin, I'm a big fan. In him I see the spirit of the young little boys that we all once were. Rambunctious. Playful. Happy-go-lucky.
LOVE, LIKE PATIENCE, HAS ITS LIMITS.
And this is why I've always been a staunch defender of the mercurial forward, including the time when I railed against his 16-month suspension from 2019 to 2020, calling that punishment cruel and unusual.
But this vicious cycle of bad behavior has become too exhausting. I can no longer risk a serious neck injury from shaking my head so much when the next scandal arises.
Still, I refuse to believe that Abueva is the only one to blame for all the fluff that tends to surround him.
Some accountability falls in the lap of Magnolia.
When they acquired him from Phoenix via a trade in February 2021, the Hotshots knew they had a firecracker in their hands, a then 33-year old man trapped in a child's body.
So, where's the supervision?
Calvin is still one of the best defenders in the PBA. He is obviously an asset and Magnolia isn't protecting Abueva from himself and his patterns of destructive, disruptive conduct.
WILL SOME ANGER MANAGEMENT CLASSES HELP?
Just like parents raising children, discipline must begin at home. Magnolia is remiss in that responsibility by relying solely on the PBA's punitive arm instead of taking matters into their own hands when appropriate.
I guess the Hotsots don't know the difference between enabling and empowering.
At the height of that Commissioner's Cup Finals which Abueva infested with distractions, I asked coach Chito Victolero to comment about it. He declined.
I understand his stance to be protective and to be perhaps conscious of the desire to maintain the street cred of being pro-player.
But at what point will Victolero realize that there is a line that divides a leader of men from a cuddler of miscreants?
Chito Victolero is an excellent coach. And I respect him a lot.
I just wish he can also be a father figure that a great, albeit troubled, player such as Calvin Abueva will actually listen to.
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