Alfrancis Chua says Gilas' Asiad team never 'asked for the moon' to join

Gilas Pilipinas manager Alfrancis Chua said that the newly-crowned Asian Games champs never asked for cash just to join. PSC-POC Media Pool (file photo)

By Ivan Saldajeno

QUEZON CITY--Gilas Pilipinas team manager Alfrancis Chua took pride in saying that the national team that won the gold medal in the Asian Games men's 5x5 basketball event in Hangzhou, China committed out of the love for the game and not due to a huge salary in return for their services.

Chua said during a press conference at the PBA office on Monday that none of the players were offered a huge sum of money just to commit to Gilas on short notice.

"They didn't get anything extra just to play for the Asian Games," Chua said.

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas vice president and PBA board chairman Ricky Vargas then said that the main source of allowance for the players during the Asian Games, which formally concluded on Sunday, was the salaries they get from their mother teams.

"They continue to get that funding whether they play or they don't play," Vargas said. "Other than that, there was not a single centavo given."

He even said that they were strict about the players' commitment and that it should not be about the money that they passed up on a couple of players who wanted to join Gilas but demanded huge sums of cash just to formally commit.

"I was on the phone, and I spoke to one player that we wanted. He said, 'Yes, I love the country. I will play for the team.' And then he said, 'Talk to my manager.' Then the manager came back and said, 'He will play as long as you pay him.' Then I went to Alfrancis and Tim [Cone] and said, 'We're willing to support you and bring this player in. We need this player badly, but this is the amount of money he wants.' Tim and Alfrancis said, 'No. He's asking for the moon. It's going to destroy the team. The amount of money he's asking for is even greater than what we pay for our naturalized players (Justin Brownlee and Ange Kouame),'" Vargas bared a story about one of the players, adding that the case about the second player was similar.

Meanwhile, Chua said that Gilas will receive a championship bonus from SBP chairman emeritus Manny Pangilinan and San Miguel Corporation president Ramon Ang for their successful gold medal conquest.

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