APOLOGY accepted.
Mike Harris says he has no beef against Magnolia coach Chito Victolero, understanding his burst of emotion when he confronted him in the third quarter of Sunday’s Game Three of the PBA Governors Cup finals was just a spur of the moment thing.
Victolero had some words against the Alaska import on Sunday shortly after colliding with Romeo Travis as the two were going down court towards the Magnolia basket.
The clash left Travis sprawled on the floor after stepping on Harris’ foot and hurt his ankle, prompting Victolero to rush on the court and confront Harris.
The Magnolia mentor later extended his apology to Harris during his post-game presser, saying the incident was just in the heat of the moment.
Harris doesn’t see any problem with that, referring to Victolero as a ‘magnificent coach.’
“I don’t have any hard feelings towards him. It’s just one of those responses in the moment, his star player goes down and twist his ankle. He says stuff at that moment, but once again I don’t take it personally,” said the 35-year-old Harris.
“I don’t think he meant it intentionally. In a heated battle, sometimes you say stuff. There’s no disrespect to him, I have no problem with it.”
The Alaska import said he personally apologized to Travis as well as to the Magnolia team.
While he may be competitive inside the court, Harris said he’s no dirty player and wouldn’t want to see a fellow player, much more a fellow import, get hurt during a game.
“I think he knows me to the extent to know that I’m not that type of a player,” said the Alaska mentor. “I never want to intentionally hurt anybody like that.
“The fact that he (Victolero) said he apologized, I accept it. It’s no problem at all, I moved on past it.”