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    Free Willie!

    CJ trade highlights need for truly independent PBA commissioner
    Feb 1, 2021
    PHOTO: Jerome Ascano
    spin zone

    CHICAGO - On November 19, 2004, a nasty brawl now infamously known as the "Malice in the Palace" erupted at the defunct home floor of the Detroit Pistons in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

    Three days later, commissioner David Stern nursed his league's ugly black eye by handing down the harshest penalties in NBA history.

    Ron Artest, the principal puncher who rolled by the name of Metta World Peace at that time, was suspended for 72 games while 80 percent of his $6.1 million salary was forfeited.

    Fellow Pacers Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal were also suspended without pay for a combined 55 games, costing the duo a combined $5.8 million.

    Stern, who succumbed to a brain aneurysm last January 2020, explained to reporters how the decision was arrived at.

    "It was unanimous, 1-0," he said.

    When the PBA decides to approve or rescind a controversial CJ Perez trade that disgruntled fans have been urinating on since Friday, the math will be a little crowded.

    And that's because five people have been assigned to make the verdict.

    "Too many cooks spoil the broth," so the saying goes.

    While there are times when two heads are better than one, five brains can also lead to headaches, confusion, conspiracies, and God forbid, mayhem.

    So why the need for a five-man committee?

    Was this created because some higher power does not implicitly trust Marcial to be the sole juror of all things complicated?

    Or did Marcial insist on assembling this group so he can use it as running water to wash his hands when things get messy?

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    I DON'T KNOW.

    What I do know is that a commissioner must only delegate the menial things to subordinates. He must assume the responsibility of deciding on vital matters regarding players' movements that affect league balance and parity.

    During my appearance at his Power and Play talk show last Saturday, former PBA commissioner Noli Eala described the five-man trade committee as "men of probity."

    I don't doubt that. These men are also intellectuals. One member, Melvin Mendoza, is a lawyer, while the head, Joey Guanio, has a U.P. education.

    But at the end of the day, they are all still PBA employees, beholden and tainted in a way that they have friendships and associations with team personnel and agents in and around the league they all toil under.

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      If the PBA really wanted to create the illusion of fairness in trades, why not put together an impartial body that is akin to an independent inspector general?

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      The CJ trade, which is still spewing with fans' anger and outrage over at the various social media platforms of Spin.ph, opened a Pandora's box.

      It shined a light on the need for the PBA to be transparent with players' and teams' salaries and make sure that a strict cap is enforced to prevent the wealthier teams from unfairly stockpiling assets.

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        It also highlighted the need for a set-up where the PBA commissioner is given the complete autonomy to run the league free from both the consequence and influence of powerful owners and governors.

        Just as I do not need to be an executive chef to know if my food tastes bad, Kume Marcial does not need five people to tell him that a trade stinks.

        Marcial is a good man toiling under bad circumstances,

        Free Willie and give him a fair chance to prove that he belongs in the lofty, embattled chair he is now sitting on.

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        PHOTO: Jerome Ascano
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