
PBA commissioner Willie Marcial gave Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s Arvin Tolentino and Meralco’s Raymar Jose stern warnings for the commotion that marred Game 1 of the Governors’ Cup Finals.
Both Tolentino and Jose escaped possible penalties after being summoned before Game 2 Friday, April 8 at the Mall of Asia Arena, but Marcial told the two players that stiffer punishments will be handed in the event of a similar incident in the future.
“Sinabi ko sa kanila na ‘Tabla tayo ngayon. Pero pag isa sa inyo naulit sa susunod at pinatawag ko ulit kayo, sasabihin ko sa inyo kung natatandaan nila yung sinabi ko na doblado?’” Marcial said after his meeting with both players.
Marcial added that Tolentino and Jose patched things up after they figured in the incident near the end of Meralco’s 104-91 win at the Smart Araneta Coliseum two days earlier.
Tolentino and Jose almost came to blows after the two had a heated exchange with nine seconds left in the contest.
But tensions continued in the middle of the two teams’ dugouts when cooler heads had to prevent the two players from going at it.
Eyewitness accounts also said that the two were still exchanging words at the parking area.