BARAKO Bull cager Don Allado’s career is in shambles.
The Filipino-American, a product of La Salle, is 35 years old, certainly no longer a spring chicken by PBA standards, and his contract with Barako expires at the end of this season.
Making the prospects bleaker, Allado was fined half a million pesos by the PBA for hurling negatives against the league on his Twitter and he has been banned from playing for one conference.
Many are puzzled. I am also wondering what drove him to issue such a careless, irresponsible statement on his computer, blatantly accusing the PBA of game-fixing.
He didn’t even stop to mull the possible consequences.
He had nothing to gain, everything to lose by making such an accusation.
Game-fixing may exist, but I doubt if its existence will ever be proven. Many have tried but no one has succeeded.
In a moment of extreme emotion, Allado said he was not afraid to face the possible consequences.
He was later to recant his statements.
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“What ever made him do it?” I asked a popular player agent who I presumed knew best the workings of a player’s mind.
“Frustration. Utter frustration in their last game when he begged the referee to call a three-second violation against the opponent, which the ref did not.”
Barako lost the game and the chance to qualify for the next round.
It was a big blow to Allado and his teammates, who had desperately wanted to give a better account of themselves in the third conference.
The agent said perhaps Allado and his teammates may have gotten wind of management’s plan to form a younger team for the coming season.
According to reports, only the contract of two players will remain intact when the season is over.
No one knows who among what they call the “Manong Brigade” will be retained.
“That’s why he wanted very much to have a creditable showing in this conference. Had they made it to the semifinals of the ongoing conference at least, the Manongs may have been given a new lease on life.”
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So how does Allado’s shortened basketball future look? Is there still a future for him after all this brouhaha?
“For sure the sanctions imposed on him will drastically change his lifestyle. Allado will be broke for the duration of his suspension. If he’s lucky, he may get an offer, in which case he may be given an allowance of P150,000 monthly for the duration of his inactivity,” the agent explained.
Estimating his total take home pay at half a million monthly (P300,000 base pay and P200,000 in perks), the agent said that while there may still be offers forthcoming, they may not be as lucrative as his previous contract.
“I believe Allado will still have takers,” the agent said. Who knows? Barako may even sign him to a new contract.”
Allado’s manager is his father Caloy.