Renaldo Balkman is grateful to be given a second chance playing in the Philippines after the controversial import was signed to suit up for Tanduay Alab Pilipinas in the ASEAN Basketball League.
Alab made a bold move shortly after the start of the new year when it announced the addition of Balkman, who in 2013 was given a lifetime ban by the PBA for choking Petron teammate Arwind Santos late in a Commissioner’s Cup game against Alaska.
He and Justin Brownlee, who helped lead Barangay Ginebra San Miguel to back-to-back championships in the PBA Governors’ Cup, were expected to make their Alab debut last night against the Westports Malaysia Dragons at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
The former NBA veteran has vowed to make most of the opportunity given to him and help Alab improve from its 1-3 start in the ABL campaign.
“Five years to the day I did something that I regret and I learned a valuable lesson from it,” Balkman said on his Facebook account. “Always remember to keep your composure and to be the best role model you can be. Now I finally have a chance for redemption.”
Balkman will play under Alab coach Jimmy Alapag, who was on the losing end of the 2014 FIBA World Cup match between Gilas Pilipinas and Puerto Rico in Spain. The 77-73 defeat also ended Alapag and Gilas’ dream of entering the knockout stage.
Incidentally, Alapag also has a poor batting average against his other new import, having lost to Brownlee twice in the Governors’ Cup finals for Meralco as a player in 2016 and as an assistant coach last October.
But there’s no doubt that Alapag is glad to be working with both Balkman and Brownlee, instead of playing against them.