Blatche ‘okay’ after accident

MANILA, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player Andray Blatche figured in a vehicular accident in the US, but is okay, according to Gilas team manager Butch Antonio after a call from Blatche’s business manager Maria Espaldon.

“It’s a simple case of a vehicular accident. Most important is that Andray is okay as I was told by Chao (Maria Espaldon),” Antonio told The STAR.

Blatche himself posted on his Instagram account a video of two wrecked vehicles and said: “They tried to take me and @voicz out.”

There’s no follow-up post at press time. But Antonio said Espaldon assured him Blatche is okay.

“Most probably it’s in Atlanta. Both Chao and Andray are based in Atlanta,” said Antonio.

Blatche led Team Phl to a 4-2 record in the first three windows of the FIBA World Cup qualifiers but had to sit out the recent window because of a suspension drawn in the aftermath of the Gilas-Australia brawl.

He’ll serve one more game suspension, after which he can rejoin Team Phl in its quest to qualify for the 2019 World Cup.