COREY Webster suffered his first-ever loss to the Philippines in a Fiba competition in his debut as New Zealand captain — and later came under fire from Gilas fans for a comment he allegedly posted on Instagram.
Shortly after Gilas beat the Tall Blacks, 93-89, in a Fiba Asia Cup home qualifier at the Mall of Asia Arena, an alleged comment by Webster in an interaction on the Tall Blacks' official Instagram account surfaced online.
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"Had to try and beat the refs on this one too! You know how it is when with that home cooking," came a comment posted by Webster's official IG account.
During Sunday night's post-game press conference, Webster, appointed captain in his 16th year playing for the Tall Blacks, commended the performance of the hosts that pinned a loss on debuting New Zealand coach Judd Flavell.
"It’s a tough team, they got some great players, and they stepped up and made shots at the end of the game tonight," he said.
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But his alleged IG comment soon ignited a firestorm as Pinoy netizens were quick to respond with angry posts, some disrespectful.
Webster's alleged remark was later deleted from the page. The Tall Blacks' account later pinned a plea in a bid to stop the hate comments.
"Let's remember that everyone, including our athletes, are human. While it's okay to express opinions, we please ask that you keep the conversation respectful and constructive," the comment.
It was not the first time Webster found himself in the middle of a controversy for an online post.
The Perth Wildcats star in the NBL was suspended two games by Basketball Australia for comments deemed homophobic posted on Twitter in September 2023.
Webster's brother Tai Jack inevitably got entangled in the mess, too, engaging fans on Twitter - some of whom thought he was Corey.
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