Shabby treatment or attitude problem?

We all know about the NBA’s social outreach programs all over the world and how the league shows sincere care in promoting positive values particularly with the youth through basketball.

But at the recent Jr. NBA selection camp in Manila, a disappointed parent Randy Tongco claimed his son Ranbill Angelo was shabbily treated and humiliated by a local staffer whose identity was not disclosed.

Ranbill was one of three San Beda high school players invited among 40 participants from Luzon, Cebu and Davao to attend the three-day, live-in camp at the Marriott Hotel last month. The players, aged 12 to 14, underwent court drills with Jr. NBA coaches Frank Lopez and Jama Mahlalela who were assisted by former PBA cagers Benjie Paras, Ronnie Magsanoc, Cadel Mosqueda and Elmer Cabahug at the Jose Rizal University gym. NBA legend B. J. Armstrong flew in from the US to share his inspiring insights on the game with the kids.

At the end of the camp, the top eight players were chosen by the Jr. NBA coaches. They were Thristan Lagman of UE, MVP Hubert Cani of Cavite, Mio Puno of Ateneo de Manila, Patrick Go of Ateneo de Cebu, Kib Montalbo of Taytung High School of Bacolod, Bryan Villaruz of Ateneo de Iloilo, Henry Asilum of Davao and Kline Aranjuez of Stella Maris Academy of Davao. The players will represent the country in an international Jr. NBA camp in Beijing this October. The NBA is giving the eight youngsters a ringside ticket each to witness the league opening in Beijing during their visit.

NBA Asia’s Richie Lai was the event director. Contracted to organize the camp locally was Team Comm headed by Debbie Tolentino. It was the third staging of the Jr. NBA camp in Manila since 2007.

“The eight players were chosen not exclusively for their basketball skills,” explained Tolentino. “Coach Frank always made it a point to remind the players that the most important thing to remember is to live the STAR values of the NBA – sportsmanship, teamwork, attitude (positive, of course) and respect. Throughout the camp, players were evaluated on their off-court behavior and demerits were issued depending on how they conducted themselves.”

* * *

While the Jr. NBA camp was regarded as a rousing success in media, Tongco said his son’s experience was far from pleasant. He cited instances where his son was publicly humiliated by a Jr. NBA staffer and falsely accused of wrongdoing. Tongco said his son was repeatedly singled out and embarrassed like he was a target.

“We believe our son at his young age didn’t deserve the public humiliation and embarrassment he received from this Jr. NBA staff,” wrote Tongco and his wife to The Star. “We also questioned her motive why she was so fond of reporting our son to the coaches and organizers when in fact, some of the (other) campers were also caught by her violating house rules but the information did not reach the proper authorities.

“Even before the start of the camp, we found out later that this Jr. NBA staff had already issues regarding our son. She claimed that my son had a bad attitude in answering calls from his cell phone. But if she only bothered to ask our son, she would’ve found out that his cell phone had a defective earpiece and could not hear the voice from incoming calls.

“When we entrusted our son in the care of the Jr. NBA program to participate in the three-day camp, we expected them to take good care of him and be his second parent inside the camp. All we wanted was for our son to experience the Jr. NBA camp, meet new friends and learn basketball from prestigious coaches here and abroad but instead, all he got was shame and discomfiture.

“We want to make it clear that we post no objection to the selection of winners for the top eight campers. Neither are we sour-graping because of my son’s exclusion in the list for we believe in the integrity of the Jr. NBA coaches. We are sending this letter because we don’t want this to happen again to other Jr. NBA participants in the future.”

* * *

A check with Team Comm officials revealed that Ranbill was in line to make it to the top eight but his demerits for poor behavior weighed him down. A Team Comm staffer confirmed that Ranbill was a standout in the camp and rated his basketball skills as outstanding.

“But there were problems of attitude,” said the staffer. “Once, he was seen running around the Marriott without a shirt on and when his attention was called, he challenged one of the staff – a girl – to a fistfight. One of our PBA coaches from San Beda wondered why he did things to call attention like he was a neglected child. We heard of reports that even in school, he has been kicked out of the classroom for disrespecting teachers.”

The staffer disclosed that Ranbill was nearly booted out of the Jr. NBA camp but Lai gave him another chance. In fact, Ranbill was summoned for a private meeting with Lopez and Lai to discuss his behavior. It was an attempt to put Ranbill on track.

“Despite his demerits, Ranbill still made it to the first cut of 20 players,” the staffer went on. “That’s how good he is. When the list was cut to eight, his demerits pulled him down. There was never any intention to humiliate Ranbill. In fact, the Jr. NBA staffers did everything they could to reach out to him because he really is an exceptional player.”

Ranbill’s father took exception to the Jr. NBA staffer’s apparent personal grudge against his son. “The ill-mannered actions of this Jr. NBA staff were totally inexcusable, unethical and below the belt,” he said. And whenever Ranbill was confronted, he wouldn’t answer back but only tried to reason out, the disgruntled father added.

We couldn’t ascertain if the allegations regarding Ranbill’s behavior are true but what we confirmed was he is a potentially high-caliber basketball player. For the kid’s sake, we’re hoping his parents, San Beda officials and those who interacted with him at the recent Jr. NBA camp communicate closely – on friendly terms – to determine how to make things right. And yes, the NBA cares.