COLUMN: HOTSHOTS HAVE NO ONE TO BLAME BUT THEMSELVES FOR IMPORT BLUNDER

CHICAGO -- "It has been a wild couple days," Shabazz Muhammad, the 14th overall pick of the 2013 NBA Draft, told me via text message Saturday night.

The star import, now a hired gun for the Magnolia Hotshots, was talking about the whirlwind journey that brought him to Panabo, Davao where he was set to make his PBA Governors' Cup debut.

"Haven't had one practice yet. Fresh off the plane 22 hours straight. Spent one day in Manila then flew to this city (Panabo, Davao)," the 6-foot-6, 223-pound UCLA alum said.

All of that travel, jetlag and fatigue for nothing.

As it turned out, Shabazz, clad in uniform, wasn't allowed to suit up.

The reason?

Magnolia hadn't secured a Letter of Clearance (LOC) from FIBA.

"I'm really mad I couldn't play. We would definitely be 4-2," Muhammad said. 

"But it does give me a lot of time now to be ready for Thursday. I can't wait."

Muhammad was present in Panabo but unfortunately, he can't suit up for Magnolia PHOTO: PBA Images

NO LOC, NO PLAY

 So how does this process work? Here's a little explainer.

The PBA team, in this case Magnolia, will ask the SBP to ask for a clearance from the federation where said import (Shabazz) last played, which was Venezuela.

A system-based request that entails only a "yes or no" response, the process usually takes between a day to four days.

Here's the bigger question.

Why did Magnolia replace Glenn Robinson III without making sure first that an LOC for Muhammad was on hand?

BRINGING A KNIFE TO A GUNFIGHT

As a direct result to Magnolia's kneejerk, aimless rush to cut GR3, they ended up playing without an import in a wire-to-wire loss to the Meralco Bolts, 82-74.

In other words, Magnolia went to a knife fight with a pillow against a team with a four-game winning streak.

There's a four-letter word for that kind of blunder

GR3 is a class act who handled his contract termination like a professional. He would have gladly played against Meralco had the Hotshots not so quickly, eagerly relegated him to the injured reserve list.

PHOTO: Sherwin Vardeleon

In a low-scoring game Magnolia lost only by eight, just imagine how much impact GR3 would have made given that he averaged 24.2 points, 11 rebounds and 2.6 assists through five games.

Not only that, letting GRS stay until tonight's game would have allowed Shabazz to rest up, practice, and then get activated for Thursday's game versus Terrafirma.

"Yes, you are right," Muhammad replied when I presented him with that scenario.

Too bad Magnolia didn't figure that out.

2024-09-07T16:15:02Z dg43tfdfdgfd