PBA slaps fines, bans on Pingris, Nabong

MARC Pingris of San Mig Coffee and Globalport rookie Kelly Nabong, who figured in the ugliest fight in the PBA in recent years, yesterday were fined P60,000 each and suspended two games after exchanging blows in a Governors’ Cup game last Wednesday.

Marvin Hayes, another Globalport rookie, was fined P20,000 for his unsportsmanlike behavior, while Joe Devance of San Mig got away with light penalties—a P30,000 fine and a one-game suspension—for his cheap shot on Hayes that the Commissioner’s Office said lit the wick of the melee.

During the game, Devance was assessed only a technical foul while Pingris and Nabong were thrown out. Hayes was slapped a technical for second motion.

“It should be clear to everyone that instigators, hotheads and troublemakers have no place in the PBA and will be dealt with severely,” commissioner Chito Salud said in an e-mailed statement.

“Instigators also deserve special mention, especially those not even directly involved in the immediate action,” he said. “They will have to bear a heavy price for their act. I want to remind our players that long after sanctions have been served, your overall conduct’s impression on our youth will continue to last.”

A lot of the league’s fans, though, took to social media to say the penalties weren’t severe enough.

Petron Blaze import Renaldo Balkman was fined P250,000 and banned for life in the PBA for choking teammate Arwind Santos in a game against Alaska in the last Commissioner’s Cup. Musong R. Castillo