Abarrientos fined P10 K for obscene gesture

MANILA, Philippines — The PBA yesterday slapped Magnolia assistant coach Johnny Abarrientos a P10,000 fine for an obscene gesture he made during the Hotshots’ 111-109 loss to Converge in the Governors’ Cup last Sunday.

Abarrientos was captured on the TV broadcast flipping the bird at Jamaal Franklin after the Converge import hit a dagger trey that gave the FiberXers a 111-105 cushion in the last 1:04.

“The Fying A” was apparently angered by Franklin’s constant taunting at the Magnolia bench, the last straw being his keep-it-down gesture to the Hotshots after that shot clock-beating triple.

Commissioner Willie Marcial talked to Abarrientos a day after the incident to hear his side before handing down the sanction.

“Sorry siya nang sorry, very apologetic siya,” said Marcial of Abarrientos, who actually had not been involved in similar acts of misconduct before.

“Fine siya ng P10,000. May rule sa PBA against that (flashing a dirty finger) and may precedent na rin ng mga ganyang incident (that resulted in fines),” he added.

Franklin, meanwhile, shrugged off the “flipping” incident.

“Me and the other coaches have no problem,” the Converge reinforcement said after the game.

“I tip my hat off to them, the other import (Eric McCree), No. 19 (Rome dela Rosa) and No. 13 (Calvin Abueva) who were guarding me, they’re good, physical defenders. But nothing happened between me and other coaches out there. I think they were a little mad on the three I took while I got three foul throws. But I had nothing to do with it. That’s on the ref.”

After surviving a major scare from debuting Magnolia, Franklin and the FiberXers seized the solo lead in the season-ending conference with a spotless 3-0 card ahead of NLEX (2-0) and TNT (2-0).