By MARK REY MONTEJO 

PBA Chairman Ricky Vargas revealed that two players who were initially considered to take part in the Gilas Pilipinas training pool dangled a hefty price tag before they could join the Asian Games buildup.

Vargas minced no words in recalling the situation when he and Gilas team manager Alfrancis Chua went to the drawing board and pinpointed the players that they could bring in to make the national team formidable despite the absence of key players from the FIBA World Cup.

One thing that Vargas remembered was when he had a conversation with a player who demanded a huge sum which was even higher than the salary of naturalized player Justin Brownlee.

“I spoke to one player that we wanted to play in [Gilas], ‘He said ‘yes’ I love the country, I’ll play for the team and then he said talk to my manager,” the TNT Tropang Giga governor said in a press briefing at the PBA Office on Monday, Oct. 9.

“And the manager came back and says ‘he will play as long as you pay him, and then I went to Alfrancis [Chua] and to Tim [Cone], and I’m willing to support you or willing to bring this player in, we need this player badly but this is the amount of money he wants and then Tim and Alfrancis said no, he’s asking for the moon and it’s going to destroy the team,” Vargas added.

“And the amount of money he’s asking for is even greater than what we paid for our naturalized player,” he disclosed.

Vargas also mentioned that there was another player who demanded the same, which is a high salary.

“There’s another one we also asked, and was also asking and Alfrancis said no,” Vargas continued.

There’s no additional details regarding the two players who asked for the amount.

Gilas officials had reiterated before the Asiad that donning the national colors is purely of service and love for the game.

“And it was a battlecry for us, you will play because you truly love to play and you came here to play we’re not forcing you,” Vargas said.

“You’re here because you wanted to play, if we’re forcing you, you can be on your own,” he added.