No love lost between Slaughter, Gin Kings?

MANILA, Philippines — Greg Slaughter’s farewell message to Ginebra management, coaches and teammates doesn’t seem to tell the whole story behind the giant trade that sent him to NorthPort in exchange for Christian Standhardinger.

According to a very reliable source, there was no love lost when the 7-footer was shipped to NorthPort yesterday.

“Greg had to be traded,” the source told The STAR yesterday after news about the one-on-one trade between the two high-caliber big men broke out.

All along, it seemed that Slaughter had found his way back to Ginebra after leaving the team in February last year when his contract expired. He flew to the United States without informing management or his teammates.

“His teammates did not take it well. Bigla kasi siya umalis. Hindi siya nag-paalam. Hindi nagustuhan ng mga teammates niya ‘yun,” said the source.

Slaughter trained on his own in the US while the Gin Kings prepared for and won the PBA Philippine Cup crown in a bubble setup in Clark last December.

Rejuvenated, the 32-year-old slotman returned to the country last October, apologized to management and his teammates, got married and showed that he was ready to play once more for Ginebra.

“I want to apologize to them and the rest of management for any misunderstanding or bad feelings that may have occurred because of my decision,” Slaughter said then.

“But there were Ginebra players who said they would rather be traded if Greg stayed with Ginebra. Thinking that this may disrupt the team chemistry, Ginebra traded Greg,” said the source.

Apparently, the damage has been done.