NorthPort rookie William Navarro hobbles to the bench. –PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines–NorthPort rookie William Navarro is expected to miss the rest of the season after suffering an ACL injury during last week’s PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals against Barangay Ginebra.
Team manager Bonnie Tan confirmed to the Inquirer on Thursday of the diagnosis of the injury which Navarro sustained late in the first quarter of the Batang Pier’s 99-93 defeat in Game 2 of the series held Saturday at Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Navarro left with 3:36 to go in that period while he successfully forced Ginebra’s Jamie Malonzo to commit a turnover during a transition play.
His injury cut short what was an impressive debut for the former Ateneo standout, who opted to sign with NorthPort after his request for a clearance in order to play in South Korea was denied by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.
Before donning the NorthPort jersey, Navarro made eight appearances for Gilas Pilipinas in the 2023 Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers and the 2022 Fiba Asia Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Navarro was selected second by NorthPort during a special round for members of the Gilas pool in the 2021 PBA Rookie Draft.
The 25-year-old averaged 14.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.0 steals in eight games with the Batang Pier.
His best performance came last Nov. 20 when he scored a career-high 29 points on 11-of-14 shooting with 17 rebounds and nine assists as NorthPort beat Converge, 112-97, that snapped the latter’s seven-game winning streak.