TIM Cone certainly wants to have Scottie Thompson be with the Philippine men’s basketball team bound for the 32nd Southeast Asian Games.
Not that he’s biased to his star player at Barangay Ginebra, but the coach knows exactly what the reigning PBA MVP could bring to the table.
“He transforms teams with his plays and hustle,” said Cone of the player he personally picked with the No. 5 overall selection during the 2015 PBA Rookie Draft.
“He transforms the character of a team.”
READ: Kaila Napolis delivers first PH gold at SEA Games
Too bad, the 29-year-old Thompson had to beg off from the Gilas team in its quest to regain back the basketball gold of the biennial showcase since wife Jinky is expected to give birth to their firstborn by the second week of May.
The team, currently in the tailend of its closed-door training camp at the Inspire Sports Academy in Laguna, is set to leave for Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Saturday.
“She’s (Jinky) set to give birth anywhere between May 8 to 10, so it really smacks in the middle (of the SEA Games),” said Cone. “Even if he goes and flies back, and goes back (again), I don’t know if that’s advisable either.”
Cone feels for Thompson, having been in the same situation before.
"I know I have to be around for my first (baby). In fact, I think the morning that we had my first, we had a game that night,” recalled the 65-year-old coach. “But that was here in Manila, so no problem for me. And my daughter was born in the morning, and we had a game at night.”
But knowing his Ginebra playmaker, Cone said Thompson for sure would've wanted to be with the team.
“I’m sure he loved to be in it, and we certainly love to have him,” added Cone. “(But) family first, man. I think even before, it's God, family, and country. That’s the hierarchy. It’s family first. So what can you say?”
Thompson already won a gold medal in the SEA Games as part of the 2015 national team that ruled the event in Singapore.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
