Japeth and the case of many hats

Japeth Aguilar is well within his rights to decide where he wants to play, whether it be on the Smart-Gilas Philippine team, Burger King in the Philippine Basketball Association or both. The PBA is also well within its rights to craft consequences for his apparent change of heart about turning pro. The matter is greatly complicated by the fact that many of the persons involved wear more than one hat, as Japeth is: national player and professional athlete trying to support his parents.

When interviewed by this writer over ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), veteran newsman and sports columnist Ronnie Nathanielsz, who also wears a different hat representing Aguilar, said that the way for Japeth to be part of the Powerade Team Pilipinas was to enter the draft, but joining the PBA was “a far second” to his intent to be on the national team.

Nathanielsz even cited the case of Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry, who was drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers in 1989 and refused to play for them. In his senior year at Duke, Ferry swept the James Naismith, Oscar Robertson and UPI Player of the Year Awards. The first-team All-American didn’t want to play for the Clippers, and opted to ply his trade for Il Messaggero (now Virtus Roma). As a result, his rights were traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he received a 10-year guaranteed contract. However, Ferry only averaged double figures in two of those seasons.

The Aguilars are supposedly banking on this precedent, and PBA rules governing the inability of a new draftee’s coming to terms with the team that picked him. After two years, he may try joining another team, if at all. Unfortunately for them, the NBA is a much larger league, with a much broader market and bigger pool of talent to choose from. The loss of one player, no matter how magnificent, is hardly felt. On the other hand, the 6-10 Ferry was also a proven talent, even named one of the ACC’s 50 greatest players of all time, and whose single-game scoring record of 58 points for the Blue Devils still stands. Japeth has not proven himself thus far, and did not get much of a chance to be spectacular at Western Kentucky. Also, Americans, over-exposed to the vagaries of an overabundant media, often shrug off large public embarrassments. Asians in general, and Filipinos in particular, take loss of face very seriously. It’s bad for business.

From all appearances, Aguilar had the intention of playing in the PBA, and the top management of Burger King (including concurrent PBA chair) Lito Alvarez also made moves to clear the way for his arrival.

But the Aguilars did not tell Burger King not to make any moves to accommodate him, since they were just going to use the draft to gain entry to the Powerade Team, anyway. Now it looks like Aguilar is trying to get his pick of the most comfortable situation for himself, and that’s playing for Rajko Toroman, who will likely give him a lot of playing time and teach him a lot of new things.

In his official statement, Aguilar clearly states that his change of mind came after playing in the FIBA-Asia tournament in China.

“The experience of Tianjin, China, opened my eyes and told me that if I truly want to help my country in international basketball I will have to sacrifice a career in the pro league with all the glamour and all the perks, and join the national pool for the present time... I wish to extend my deep sense of gratitude to coach Yeng, Burger King team owner Mr. Bert Lina and team manager and PBA chairman Lito Alvarez for their confidence in my ability by making me their No.1 draft pick.”

There is no precedent for lifetime bans on players who have never seen action in the PBA. The question now is whether or not such a prohibition on Aguilar will apply if and when Smart Gilas plays in the PBA as a guest team. In the past, national players were prohibited from seeing action against their mother teams. Also, those affected include major supporters of the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas, as Alvarez himself has stated, including SBP and PLDT head Manny Pangilinan. Which of their hats weighs more in this scenario?

As a private entity, the PBA can pretty much do whatever it wants regarding Japeth Aguilar, whose decision was plagued with the riches of options unavailable to most young basketball players. Whether or not this matter can be resolved immediately also depends on which roles the main characters decide will have greater bearing in their judgment on the case.

Other players have lost playing years for different circumstances.

Marlou Aquino lost the first two years of his PBA career, but that was due to complications with his academics, and the tug-of-war between two teams that wanted him (and eventually both acquired his services).

Remember, the PBA is a proud organization run by very accomplished men, pillars of Philippine industry and leaders of multinatonal corporations. It is a well-managed business entity with a long history of success, and is protective of its members, as it should be. Japeth Aguilar may eventually prove to be an exceptional player, but no singular talent in a team sport anywhere has ever proven to be indispensable.

Obviously, the PBA board will not take this sitting down, and it will survive this bump in the road. But if it decides that it does not need Japeth Aguilar, and does not allow him to suit up even as a player of a guest team, what will happen to him then? Will he try his luck overseas or in the NBDL? What happens then to his proclaimed desire to play for the national team? Will Japeth change his mind and decide that he can play for both Burger King and Smart Gilas when the PBA turns up the heat?

If he doesn’t work things out with the PBA, he might end up with just one hat, as someone looking for a job, when he could have had the best of both worlds.