WHEN news came out that Magnolia has finally parted ways with enigmatic forward Calvin Abueva, the comments sections of our social media sites have been filled with chatter from fans expecting 'The Beast' to ultimately end up at Barangay Ginebra.
For some reason, a lot of fans were unconvinced that NorthPort is the final destination of Abueva after he was traded by the Hotshots to acquire William Navarro.
LIST: Top players that NorthPort either traded or failed to keep
Why?
The reasons are unclear, although Abueva has been very vocal in the recent past of his admiration for Ginebra, especially its Jaworski-era team, as well as his desire to some day play for the league's most popular ballclub.
Additionally, don't forget that the tireless Abueva was one of the players initially handpicked by Tim Cone to play for his Gilas Pilipinas team that was going for gold in the 2023 Asian Games in Indonesia.
Although Abueva never made that gold-winning Gilas team owing to a ruling by Asiad organizers, Cone has never hidden his fondness for Abueva and the energy he brings to games.
“He’s always been a great defender. His transition game is really dynamic,” said Cone. “I always thought that in Asia, Calvin can dominate. I felt like in the World Cup, stuff that he likes to do, it’s really too big for him.
"But in the Asian level, he can absolutely dominate.”
However, that doesn't mean there are now moves - either overtly or covertly - to bring Abueva to the Ginebra camp.
Asked about the growing social media chatter on Wednesday, the grand slam-winning Ginebra coach's response was as short as it was compelling.
"Not in our minds at all," Cone told SPIN.ph.
So there. As much as the prospects of 'The Beast' in red and white is exciting, as far as Cone is concerned it's nothing more than a pipe dream.
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