THE Mall of Asia Arena will bill TNT management for leaving the team dugout with a damaged wall after Game 2 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals against Barangay Ginebra.
So how much would it cost the team, specifically the culprit, for the huge hole left on the wall that came in the wake of the Tropang Giga’s 71-70 loss?
Well, one of the few times a PBA team was charged for damage to venue was P15,000 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum and involved no less than Tim Cone, then the head coach of the Purefoods franchise which carried the B-Meg brand.
READ B-Meg bill reaches P38,400 as Big Dome charges for damaged floor
The incident came during Game 1 of the 2012 Governors’ Cup Finals between the Llamados and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
Cone’s offense? He threw a monobloc chair to the middle of the court with eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter and B-Meg trailing, 64-75.
The champion coach was complaining about the Elasto Painters playing excessively physical against his team for most of the game, the anger reaching boiling point after a no call on a driving James Yap.
Out of frustration, Cone did a Bobby Knight-act by tossing a monobloc chair to center court of the Big Dome, which eventually led to his ejection for flagrant misconduct.
Days later, management of the Big Dome billed the PBA a total of P15,000 for the scratches left on the playing court following the chair-throwing incident.
In a statement, Araneta Coliseum administration said the flooring bore ‘scratch marks and damage of more or less four feet near center court where the chair was thrown.’
The PBA later forwarded the cost of damage to the Purefoods organization.
Apart from the flooring damage, then Commissioner Atty. Chito Salud also fined Cone P20,000 for his ‘serious disrespect for the game,’ and additional P3,400 for incurring his fourth technical foul of the conference.
So how much will TNT be charged for that damaged wall in its MoA dugout?
Will it be less or more than what Cone paid for 13 years ago?
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