Looks like Scottie Thompson has to wait for another four-year cycle before finally seeing action in the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Thompson, the reigning Most Valuable Player of the Philippine Basketball Association, could be out for the entire duration of the World Cup after suffering a right metacarpal injury during his training with Gilas Pilipinas in Kaunas, Lithuania.
An x-ray revealed that there was a fracture in his right ring finger — the same injury suffered by Calvin Oftana during his rookie season with NLEX in the PBA.
In Oftana’s case, he got sidelined for six to eight weeks, making it impossible for Thompson to see action in the prestigious 32-nation tournament that will start 48 days from now knowing that Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes wants to deploy only the fittest and best available talent.
The injury was a major blow for Thompson.
In fact, he was also supposed to suit up for Gilas in the previous World Cup in China in 2019 but former coach Yeng Guiao cut him at the last minute.
Now, things were looking good as he joined Gilas in their training camps at the Inspire Sports Academy and Estonia.
But fate had a cruel script as the injury effectively reduced him into a mere cheerleader with a heavily-bandaged hand for Gilas, who are looking to have three more friendly matches before going home to recharge and fly to China for a pocket tournament.
Still, Reyes and his boys remain upbeat.
“It was very important for us to acknowledge it and to the possibility of negativism enveloping the team and made sure first, the coaches, to show not just by our words, but by our energy and our presence and our vibe that it’s business as usual,” said Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes in an interview posted on the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas official Facebook account.
“We acknowledge Scottie is a very big piece of what we do, but we need to move forward. That’s the first thing and we talked about it.”
“We talked about it as a team and a lot of times what I’ve learned is when you give players a chance to just voice out or air out what they’re feeling, it goes a long way towards quelling that kind of negative energy. Everyone has remained positive in the practice.”
Reyes said despite his injury, Thompson had brought out the positive energy as he kept on encouraging his teammates.
“This is about role-modeling. If you see the guy who’s most affected being positive as well, obviously it infects everybody else,” Reyes said.
“Talking about just being a real leader, I think Scottie has continued to stand up and showed his leadership in that sense.”
He added the long time they have spent together — from the Meralco Gym to Inspire and Estonia — had already forged a sense of camaraderie among the players, coaches and staff.
“It is by design. Aside from spending time and thinking and discussing our practice plans, I spend a lot of time in the team development aspect as well,” Reyes said.
“You can feel that vibe and that team spirit and that’s very, very important for any team. It’s increasing by the day. We hope we sustain that.”
