Former PBA import Orton: Martin Luther King comparison to Pacquiao ‘absurd’

Former PBA import Daniel Orton opened up about his short stint in the Philippines while suiting up for the Purefoods Hotshots.

Orton, a former NBA veteran, will mostly be remembered for insulting Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao.

READ: Purefoods import calls Pacquiao the professional basketball player a ‘joke’

In an interview with The Oklahoman, Orton recalled being under heavy fire for his post-game rant last month when he called Pacquiao as a professional basketball player was a “joke.”

The ex-Oklahoma City Thunder said getting slapped with a hefty fine was understandable but getting sent home for his comments was a “little crazy.”

“The fine, not so much. I mean, the fine is OK because I said something about the refs, which I didn’t lie about that either,” said Orton, who was fined P250,000 by the PBA.

READ: Import Orton fined P250K for ‘offensive comments’ to PBA, Pacquiao

“But I said something about the refs. But just to get kicked off the team was a little crazy. And then for the president of our team to compare Manny Pacquiao to Martin Luther King was just absurd, really,” added Orton, referring to Purefoods team Governor Rene Pardo.

Backstory: Purefoods lets go of import who bashed PBA, Pacquiao–report

The 6-foot-8 Orton, though, wished he treated the situation differently.

“I mean, you know going into the situation — I know who Manny Pacquiao is. I know what he means to that country. But I didn’t think I was going to be punished as bad as I was for telling the truth, for speaking my mind on it. So I guess that’s just a situation where you’ve got to come into it and be like, ‘Man, let me just keep my mouth shut on this thing.’”

The 24-year-old center is now back in the D-League and the greatest lesson he learned from playing overseas is to work harder than he’s every worked before and just “stay back in the NBA.” CC