CHICAGO - In the wake of rumors that he has lost the appetite to play for the NLEX Road Warriors, Robert Bolick politely stiff-armed our request for an interview following a two-day wait.
"Ayaw muna niyang magsalita sa media. He doesn't want to amplify the controversy," the 6-foot-1, 178-pound point guard's camp told me late Thursday night.
The radio silence is supposedly in line with team governor Ronald Dulatre's marching orders to keep a tight lid on the issue.
READ: Bolick growing restless at mid-tier NLEX?
The approach makes perfect sense. When a team has been light on progress and heavy on underachievement, a rumored internal strife isn't exactly the type of front-page fodder that would please the big bosses.
Over the past two conferences, the Governors' Cup and the Commissioner's Cup, the Red Warriors compiled a bland 11-11 won-lost record and were 1-4 in the playoffs.
Still without a championship since joining the PBA in 2014, the Road Warriors are the least competitive and the least aesthetically pleasing among the three MVP Group teams. They're like the youngest child that gets only hand-me-down clothes.
NO TRADE DEMAND.
As Bolick retreats to "the subscriber cannot be reached" mode, his handlers want to ring in two messages loud and clear: The former San Beda star hasn't demanded a trade and that he enjoys a fine, friction-free relationship with coach Jong Uichico.
Good to know.
It is, however, important to note that the absence of a trade demand isn't a barometer of a player's happiness, either. Also, a player and a coach getting along doesn't automatically mean one likes to work with the other.
Just saying.
Bolick is frustrated only at all the losing, not at his teammates or the coaching staff, his camp clarified.
Bolick led all locals in scoring during the recently-concluded Commissioner's Cup, averaging 23.5 points per game on an efficient 46.2 percent shooting from the field (92-of-199) that includes a 13-of-34 clip from 3 and 9-of-32 from 4-point distance.
BOLICK IS AN ISLAND.
Besides carrying the offensive cudgels of a team that was ninth in the league in scoring (97.7 points per game), Bolick also turned in an average of 3.4 rebounds and 7.8 assists in 13 games.
Despite those All-Star numbers, Bolick has nothing to show for it. No deep playoffs run. Not much help either in the talent department.
Which is why you can't really blame him if he doesn't act like a gruntled employee.
At age 29, Bolick is rotting away at NLEX, wasting his prime years for nothing but a few sniffs at a quarterfinals spot.
It's unclear what NLEX's plans are moving forward, but I got an idea.
Free Robert Bolick.
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