TNT Tropang Giga head coach Jojo Lastimosa is taking a hands-off approach on the issue surrounding the absence of Mikey Williams in the ongoing East Asia Super League Season 2.
Lastimosa, also the Tropang Giga team manager, said he is focused on coaching and is not dealing with the issue of his star playmaker.
A former star player himself, the 59-year-old Lastimosa had successfully resolved their contract deadlock with the Filipino-American star that resulted in a three-year extension last year.
Now, both camps are at odds again with sideliners claiming that the 32-year-old Williams is looking to renegotiate his contract after serving as a crucial piece in Tropang Giga’s championship run in the previous Governors’ Cup.
Right now, Williams is in Los Angeles and opted to skip the Tropang Giga’s EASL campaign while talks are still ongoing.
But this time, Lastimosa declined to be part of the negotiation.
“I’m not dealing with Mikey at this time. I’m coaching,” Lastimosa told Daily Tribune a day after they got blown out by the Chiba Jets, 75-93, in the EASL opener at the Funabishi Arena in Chiba on Wednesday night.
Williams, who averaged 22 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists when the Tropang Giga dethroned Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the season-ending conference of the Philippine Basketball Association, is the subject of ridicule on social media after being speculated to be the player who asked “for the moon” before playing for Gilas Pilipinas in the Asian Games.
Again, Lastimosa refused to comment.
“You have to ask him,” Lastimosa said, referring to PBA chairman Ricky Vargas, who is also the TNT Tropang Giga governor who dropped a hint about a player who asked for a massive amount in exchange for his service to the national team.
For now, Lastimosa is more determined to lead the shorthanded TNT squad in coming up with a respectable performance in the new season of the EASL, which is using a home-and-away format from October to March.
The Tropang Giga are playing without Williams, injured Calvin Oftana, Justin Chua and Poy Erram as well as an ailing Roger Pogoy.
“It’s the same (from last year). EASL teams are all either champions or
runners-up. The competition is always great here. You can’t compete if the team isn’t in great shape,” Lastimosa said.
