NICO Elorde skipped the early part of NorthPort’s workout following the birth of his first born baby.
Batang Pier management gave the 5-foot-10 guard the leeway as wife Mich gave birth to Laura Italia del Carmen Elorde at the Pope John Paul II Hospital and Medical Center on Wednesday.
The couple’s first born was obviously named after the late Elorde matriarch, Laura Elorde, who passed away last May. She was the wife of Philippine boxing great Gabriel ‘Flash’ Elorde.
“Hindi na muna nakasama si Nico kasi nanganak yung misis niya,” said team manager Bonnie Tan.
The Batang Pier began their players’ workouts last Thursday at the Green Meadows gym in Quezon City.
The team was divided into groups of four players each and would practice alternately on schedules of Monday-Wednesday-Friday and Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday.
Tan, who’s also the coach of reigning NCAA men’s basketball champion Letran, said the workouts are serving as mere dry run for the Batang Pier – and the rest of the PBA ballclubs as well – as they await on when scrimmages will finally be given the go-signal to resume.
“Dahan-dahan lang muna para hindi naman mabigla yung katawan (ng mga players),” he said.
Also temporarily left out of the Bataing Pier's training is wingman Kevin Ferrer, who is currently nursing an injury.
But at the same time, the team welcomed back to its fold players Robert Bolick and Jonathan Grey, who also started practicing on Thursday.
Bolick is coming off an ACL injury, while Grey just recuperated from a right patellar tendon.
___
Spin fans unite at the Spin Viber Community! Join the growing community now and complete the experience by subscribing to the Spin Chatbot.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph