Former NBA player Renaldo Balkman is going to get paid to play basketball somewhere in the future, but it’s not going to be in the Philippines.
After snapping — first shoving then choking a Perton Blaze teammate who was just trying to calm Balkman down during a recent Philippine Basketball Association game — PBA commissioner Chito Salud handed down a fine of 250,000 Philippine Pesos (about $6,150 American) and a lifetime ban from the league for Balkman. Here is Salud’s statement.
Balkman apologized, but that’s going to be too little, too late in this case. Balkman only played seven games in the PBA. Can’t blame the league for this.
Like I said, Balkman — a former Knick and Nugget — is too good a player not go get paid to play somewhere next season. But I feel safe in saying both the Philippines and NBA are going to be out of the picture.