Bogut, Thomas slam Abueva on his fracas with Jones

MANILA, Philippines — The skirmish between Phoenix’s Calvin Abueva and TNT’s import Terrence Jones has reached international status with foreign media outlets carrying  video of the action, prompting a couple of NBA players in Andrew Bogut and Isaiah Thomas to give their two cents, mostly negative.

Reacting to a video post by Ballislife.com sharing news of Abueva’s indefinite suspension and fine for the retaliatory clothesline on Jones,  Bogut of the Golden State Warriors, posted on Twitter: “The resume continues building for this fella (Abueva).”

Bogut remembered Abueva from the brawl between Gilas Pilipinas and his fellow Aussies, an incident in the Philippines in which he was very critical about.

Thomas of the Denver Nuggets also slammed “The Beast” for his hit on former Houston Rocket Jones.

“I woulda beat his ass,” he twitted to caption a video he shared from NBA on ESPN. “T Jones is my dude. I’m talking about the other dude.”

Clips of the tussle have gone viral and somehow put the PBA in a bad light overseas but Commissioner Willie Marcial expressed belief the league acted appropriately by meting out heavy penalties on Abueva and others with infractions. Jones was likewise fined for “hitting Abueva in his private part” before the latter retaliated WWE-style. 

“(It’s gone) international because Jones is an NBA player. But I believed with our decision, we’re able to show them we’re also protecting the foreign players in the PBA,” Marcial said.

The International Basketball Federation (Fiba) is also monitoring the situation.

“Fiba is monitoring but according to (Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas) president Al Panlilio, it’s good that Fiba is seeing that we’re doing appropriate actions,” said Marcial.

The PBA chief stressed that heavy sanction on Abueva was meant to help him “straighten his ways.”

“I don’t look at it as punishment, it’s more of our way of helping him. He’s a great player and if we help him change for the better, he’ll be a superstar in the league,” said Marcial.

According to him, Abueva has already expressed remorse and willingness to get things in order.

Marcial said he, the Phoenix management, and Abueva himself will sit down to formulate a program/to-do list that the controversial forward will have to go through to return to the right path and get his suspension lifted.