"HONOR the game."
This was the plea of a long list of sports personalities who showed dismay at the viral clips of the suspicious VisMin Super Cup match that happened between Lapu-Lapu City and Siquijor on Wednesday night.
As seen in a series of videos of a game that was called off at halftime, the peculiar game saw players blowing off wide-open lay-ups and easy free throws.
Netizens weren't the only ones reacting vehemently to the clips.
Last night, we reported on Kiefer Ravena and Mighty Sports' Charles Tiu's reactions. But since then, even more personalities — PBA players, college superstars, coaches, team managers, even athletes of other sports — took to social media to share their sentiments about the questionable plays.
Aside from his initial tweet, NLEX star Kiefer Ravena left a few comments in the video uploaded by basketball page Hoopjunkie on Instagram.
"Respect the game. Yan nagbigay hanap buhay sa ating lahat," he said.
Ravena also reposted a couple of videos in his IG story, tagging a few PBA players and even writing a longer caption.
"Sana hindi tularan ng mga bata, lalo na sa Visayas at Mindanao kasi para sa kanila yang ligang yan. Para meron silang sarili nilang liga. Nakakatuwa na ganon ang growth ng basketball, pero kung ganito ang gagawin nila, sana puyat lang sila, kulang sa extra work, masa ang gising o kahit anong dahilan at hindi dahil sa mga comments ng karamihan ng tao," he said.
San Miguel guard CJ Perez also gave his own thoughts, with college mentor Topex Robinson in the mentions: "Honour the game, yan lagi sinasabi sakin ng mga nagturo sakin."
Magnolia veteran big man Marc Pingris was furious after watching the video. He condemned the suspicious acts in the comments section of the viral post.
"Sakit tignan," he said. "Ice tubig lang sa amin, nakikipagsuntukan pa ako. Eto bastusan talaga, naglaro pa kayo! Di sana nag-DOTA na lang kayo. Binabastos niyo yung laro na mahal na mahal ko!"
His teammate, seasoned guard Paul Lee also weighed in and expressed his dismay in a thread of Instagram stories.
"Maraming player nawalan ng trabaho ngayong pandemic, at gustong-gusto maglaro, kayo 'yung mga pinagpala para makapaglaro tapos ganyan. Hindi ako perfect sa laro pero madaming questionable dito para sakin," he said.
Gilas Women's standout Jack Animam questioned the players involved with a simple IG story with a "facepalm" emoji. "Y naman ganon mga kuys," she said.
And so the list goes.
"So sad to see! :( disrespected the game that we love," NorthPort guard Robert Bolick said, uploading a story demanding integrity.
From Japan, Thirdy Ravena took notice of the incident and showed disappointment via IG story repost with "facepalm" and "trashcan" emojis.
University of the Philippines stars Ricci Rivero and Javi Gomez de Liano broadcasted their two cents.
Rivero said: "Respect! We've been waiting for so long just to be able to play the game and now that you guys have the opportunity to play sasayangin niyo lang! Sana hindi na lang kayo naglaro!"
"Respect the game! This is what gives us a living," JGDL added.
Rome Dela Rosa of the Hotshots was also upset in his IG stories, commenting: "Yo is this is sickening. This shouldn't have a place in this game we love. Not great for the young generation coming up."
Meralco star Allein Maliksi showed distate, with "vomiting" emojis as he reposted the video in his stories.
Teammate Raymond Almazan uploaded a lengthy post as he lectured the players involved the culture of basketball he grew up with.
"Mga kuya naman, tatanda niyo na, matanda pa kayo sakin! Kahit 'yung mga ballboy namin kayang ishoot yan eh. Binababoy niyo yung laro and daming players na gusto ng trabaho tapos kayo naka-live pa at the same time may mga batang nanunuod sa inyo. Siguro naman may mga anak din kayong nanunuod ng laro niyo tapos bababuyin niyo lang 'yung basketball at kung ako nagkakamali, semi-pro yan mga kuya. Bilang isang basketball athlete at pro player, napakawalang respeto ng ginawa niyo sa liga niyo at sa mga taong buhay ang basketball," he said.
Gilas member Allyn Bulanadi also shared a separate story saying "Respect the Game."
Far Eastern University's athletic director, meanwhile, tackled a different aspect of the instance, and shed light on matters not seen on the court.
"Fixing of games has been happening in sports for a long time. Yesterday's game took it to an entirely different level as players were obviously directed to miss shots by a higher authority (coach, team owner, manager) in the team. It's sad to have these people involved in sports," he said in a tweet.
For their part, Nico Salva and Mark Barroca expressed bafflement.
"Hay naku po," Barroca said in an IG story as Salva commented: "Wag niyo babuyin," with clown emojis.