CHICAGO - At long last, the once robust and successful partnership that had lapsed into a contractual coma for the past 10 months has finally shown signs of life.
Some 293 days after he left Manila for Los Angeles to activate a renegotiation clause in his contract, Mikey Williams spoke to TNT coach Chot Reyes yesterday, multiple sources told SPIN.ph.
COLUMN: TNT now looking for a replacement for Mikey Williams
Asked to comment on the alleged contact, Reyes had very little to say.
"Nothing. Too early," Reyes said via text message.
But after weeks and weeks of quiet, this was a necessary first step. After all, no deals are done without an open communication line.
A source familiar with the situation but was not authorized to speak on behalf of Williams told me that there is cautious optimism that a deal can be ironed out.
Money and length of contract have not been discussed yet, but here's what we know for now. Mikey's last deal, which paid him in Philippine pesos and not US dollars as previously reported, was allegedly worth at least P1 million a month including bonuses, the source said.
IS A NEW DEAL IMMINENT?
Far from it. Some bad blood requires rinsing. Fences need to be mended, too.
But if there's anybody in the MVP group who can entice Williams from basketball hibernation, that man is coach Chot. He did it last July 2022 when negotiations bogged down. He will do it again.
TNT sent Williams a notice of contract termination last November. By then any hope of a reunion seemed dead in the muddy waters.
The Tropang Giga soldiered without their star in the Commissioner's Cup where they made the playoffs with a 5-6 record before being run out of the Philsports Arena by Magnolia, 109-94, in a one-sided quarterfinal match last month.
As distant as both sides have become during the awkward period of silence that separated them, this recent development was stunning but not surprising.
MISSING A STAR.
Through the haze of this "cold war," for a lack of a better term, there was optimism that their mutual need for each other would eventually force a reunion.
Much as TNT had valiantly adopted the "next man up mentality," they're just not the same team without Mikey, a show stopper who can carry the offense like no other Tropang Giga in recent memory.
'TNT needs Mikey'
With the Philippine Cup looming, and with San Miguel parading seven-time league MVP and 10-time champ June Mar Fajardo, TNT needs Mikey to catch up in the arms race that includes another SMC bloc contender in perennial contender Barangay Ginebra.
Mikey, on the other hand, just wants to hoop. I'm sure he doesn't want his PBA career to just die at the negotiating table. He's still in his prime at 32, but the clock is ticking.
Listening, a slogan once said, is the beginning of understanding.
That's what Reyes and Mikey have apparently started doing.
And that's a beautiful thing.
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