CHICAGO - Mikey Williams had a gig to die for.
Strong Group Athletics (SGA) offered him an $18,000 salary to play for them for 20 days. At today's exchange rate, that's P50,400 a day from January 10 to January 28, according to team insiders.
To put that in perspective, a Filipino worker who earns the minimum wage of P610 a day would have to work 82.9 days to earn what Mikey stood to collect each day he was with SGA.
READ Charles Tiu gives up on bid to bring in Mikey for Dubai team
The contract also provided free airfare from LA-to-Manila-to-Dubai-to-LA, five-star hotel accommodations, and free meals.
And here's the kicker: Mikey would pocket an $18,000 bonus if SGA won the title.
And then he backed out and never showed up.
"We are disappointed. We expected him to honor his word," SGA team manager Jacob Lao told me in a telephone interview.
NIGHTMARE EXPERIENCE.
Jacob, a 23-year old Converge executive, the youngest team manager in the 48-year history of the PBA, understands that not all deals get closed.
But here's what rankled his feelings.
"He stopped taking our calls and stopped responding to our text messages. To me that's disrespectful. We negotiated in good faith. I think we deserved to have our calls returned.
"That just tells you what kind of man he is. He and his agent have no principles and morals, which I really find offensive. Baka nga walang signal sa moon."
Minus Mikey, Lao believes his team can still contend for the title in the Dubai Invitational Championship.
"We have Jordan Heading and JD Cagulangan to handle the point guard position. Mikey didn't sabotage our team. Solid pa rin kami but he inconvenienced us with the time that was wasted waiting for him." Lao explained.
COMMITMENT ISSUES?
Leaving Strong Group in the altar of broken promises muddles further Mikey's reputation as a "difficult" player to deal with.
Though gifted - two-time champ and two-time Finals MVP, - the 6-foot-2 sniper appears to be impaired by commitment issues.
"Sayang. We opened the door for him to earn a living. As for the fans, he denied them the opportunity of seeing him don a jersey representing the Philippines," Lao added.
Mikey turned 32 last October, mid-life in an athlete's career.
He can only squander so many chances. He can only botch so many friendships. He can only burn so many bridges.
Once loved, but now sufficiently loathed, a debate rages on social media arguing whether he has now emerged as the 'Most Hated Man in Philippine Basketball.
Not quite.
But at the pace he is going, Mikey might just get that inglorious distinction in no time.
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