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MANILA, Philippines – Leon Rodgers is staying put.
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel team manager Alfrancis Chua said through PBA agent Sheryl Reyes that there is no truth to the rumors circulating that former PBA Best Import Gabe Freeman will be back in town to replace Leon Rodgers.
Chua added Rodgers is already arranging for his kids to visit the country after the Globalport match on Friday.
Ginebra assistant coach Juno Sauler also confirmed there was no truth to the speculations. In a text message to Rappler, the former La Salle champion coach said “Ginebra is not replacing him.”
A story that first appeared on PhilStar cited “team sources” as saying that Gabe Freeman will fly to the country Wednesday to replace Rodgers and suit up against Globalport.
“For now he wants to focus to win the next game and have no distractions,” Rodgers’ agent Sheryl Reyes tells Rappler. “If it comes to a point that he gets the pink slip, he won’t take it against the management. He came here with an open mind, he was aware of the role he needed to play, and if it has and needs to come to an end for the best of the team he will leave with no disappointment. As Leon always says, he plays like it’s his last. He is thankful of the opportunity given to him.”
The highly-touted Rodgers is averaging 32 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 4.5 APG through three games, per pba-online.net, but was criticized for taking too many attempts, particularly against San Mig Coffee where he took 33 of the team’s 69 total attempts.
The more-experienced Freeman played for San Miguel Beer in the 2009 and 2010 Fiesta Cup. He was hailed as Best Import for two consecutive import-laden conferences. The Beermen dispatched Ginebra, 4-2 with the likes of Danny Seigle, Dondon Hontiveros and Danny Ildefonso to claim the 2009 crown before falling to the Diamon Simpson-led Alaska Aces the year after.
He also led the Philippine Patriots to the inagural ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) title in 2010, sweeping the Satria Muda Indonesia squad. He played two more seasons for the Patriots before returning the PBA with Barako Bull Energy in 2012.
Freeman has averaged 22.17 PPG and 16.22 RPG in 3 conferences in the PBA but his return will have to wait. – Rappler.com with reports from Ryan Songalia and Jane Bracher
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