GILAS Pilipinas interim coach Tim Cone apologized on Saturday to Justine Baltazar and Pampanga Governor Dennis Pineda for his statements regarding the player's alleged 'lack of interest' in playing for the national team at the Fiba World Cup.
In a post on his official Twitter/X account, the two-time PBA grand slam winner said he didn’t want to start his stint with the national team on a controversial note as he clarified what he said were 'hasty remarks' about Baltazar.
READ: Baltazar, Pineda swear no invitation to join Gilas for World Cup
Cone admitted he was not part of the process of communicating with Baltazar on a possible stint with Gilas, but said he had no intention of maligning the former La Salle center when he talked about him in a press conference on Thursday.
On Friday, both Baltazar and Pineda talked to SPIN.ph vehemently denying any invitation from Gilas coaches or the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas for the 6-8 center to be part of the team to the Fiba World Cup.
COLUMN: Gilas coach Tim Cone gets himself in a sticky situation
Cone said he admires Baltazar as a player, although he has yet to meet him personally.
“I don't want to start off this journey with a controversy, so I'm going to do my best to clarify it. I apologize to Justine Baltazar for my hasty remarks regarding his exclusion from the World Cup pool," said the concurrent Ginebra coach.

"I did not mean to infer that he didn't want to play for Gilas, but rather communication or whether he was actually not called at all, I do not know because I was not part of the process to contact him, and I spoke out of order in the press conference.
“I loved watching Justine play in La Salle but have not met the young man, nor have I met or spoken to Mr.Pineda. But to both, I apologize. It was not my intention to run Justine's name through this controversy. In fact, I wanted to mention at the time of the press conference how much we had thought of him joining the pool.
“The kid can play,” said Cone.
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