Blackwater guard Paul Desiderio retires from PBA

Blackwater’s Paul Desiderio. Photo By Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines–Controversial Blackwater guard Paul Desiderio has decided to retire after being left out of a recent three-team trade involving TNT and NLEX.

Desiderio is said to be heading back to Cebu where he plans to continue treatment on an ACL injury that forced him to miss the rest of the PBA’s 47th season.

“I think he just needs time to heal, let’s give him that,” Blackwater coach Ariel Vanguardia said when asked of Desiderio’s decision.

The former University of the Philippines star was supposed to be heading to NLEX as part of the trade that sent Calvin Oftana to TNT. But the Bossing instead sent two future second round draft picks as part of the package where the Road Warriors got rookie Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser.

Aside from the injury, Desiderio is also dealing with claims of domestic violence by his former partner Agatha Uvero in July.

The PBA later said after Uvero’s allegations that it “will conduct an inquiry and hand down its findings and resolution as soon as the facts are clearly established.”

“I think he will bounce back stronger from this chapter of his life,” said Vanguardia.

Desiderio has been with Blackwater since 2019 after being acquired from NLEX in a post-draft trade.