MANILA, Philippines — Erring cager John Amores can no longer play professional basketball in the aftermath of his involvement in a shooting incident in Laguna.
Upon completion of its probe on the controversial NorthPort player, the Games and Amusement Board (GAB) found Amores guilty of “conduct unbecoming of a professional basketball player” and imposed the “severe penalty of revocation of his license.”
“The respondent’s license is revoked effective immediately,” the government regulatory body for professional sports said in a six-page decision on Amores’ GAB Case No. 109-4 signed bychairman Francisco Rivera and commissioners Manuel Plaza III and Angel Bautista.
“Accordingly, the respondent is no longer allowed to participate in any professional basketball game sanctioned by the board.”
Amores allegedly fired shots at a man he had an altercation with during a pickup game involving a P4,000 bet last September, leading to an attempted homicide lawsuit. The 6-foot-2 wingman and his brother are out on bail.
Even before the GAB stripped him of his playing license, Amores was already serving out his one-conference suspension without pay from the PBA.
The pro league has barred the 24-year-old sophomore from playing in all of the Batang Pier’s games in the Commissioner’s Cup for “violation in the Uniform Players Contract (UPC) of the PBA” and “conduct detrimental to the league.”
Additionally, he is not allowed to sit on the bench or even watch the games.
The PBA has also ordered the 51st overall pick in the 2023 rookie draft to undergo counseling “to address his anger and violent tendencies.”
Amores’ PBA stint is supposed to be his chance at redemption after his infamous punching spree in the NCAA in 2022. Amores, then with Jose Rizal U, ran amok and punched players from College of St. Benilde – an action that resulted in an indefinite ban in the NCAA and suspension and eventually expulsion from the Heavy Bombers’ basketball program.