ALTHOUGH chances are very slim, NLEX is still not giving up on convincing KJ McDaniels to stay with the Road Warriors.
NLEX coach Yeng Guiao said they are scheduled to host a farewell dinner for McDaniels where no less than Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. president and CEO Rod Franco will be attending to try and convince the import one last time to stay.
“Hindi naman natatapos ‘yung pakiusap namin hanggang hindi pa siya sumasakay ng eroplano,” said Guiao. “Kinakausap pa rin namin. Actually sa Sunday, may farewell dinner sa kanya. Nandoon din si Boss Rod. Kakausapin din siya ni Boss Rod.”
McDaniels capped his stint with NLEX on Friday with a 115-103 win over Barangay Ginebra to help the Road Warriors clinch a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals. NLEX allowed McDaniels to leave the country as his partner is scheduled to give birth anytime soon, a situation that the Road Warriors already knew from the beginning.
Guiao said there is still a very small chance that McDaniels can come back but only if his partner gave birth early.
“Meron actually kaming proposal sa kanya kasi may contraction na raw girlfriend niya kaya gusto na niyang umalis. Kapag lumabas agad ang baby, may chance,” said Guiao.
Replacement import arrives
But Guiao said the team isn't too optimistic that such a situation would happen, which was why the ballclub already brought in Cameron Clark as replacement import.
“Mangyayari diyan, our next best option is mawawala siya for a week or 10 days and then babalik siya kung nandoon pa kami sa semis. But that will also entail problems kasi kung hindi siya nag-ensayo ng 10 days, baka iba na kundisyon niya pagbalik,” Guiao said.
Guiao said NLEX will miss McDaniels, who led the team to two separate four-game winning streaks to put them in the Top Four, which entails twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
“If there is anything that can convince KJ to stay, we would do it. But his family is his first priority. He needs to be bedside when his girlfriend gives birth. We cannot take that away from him," Guiao said.
“We will be missing a lot. We don’t know how we will play without him because we have gotten so used to him, not just the way he plays the game, but he has gotten close to a lot of the players. He has been settling down and now he needs to go,” said Guiao.
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