MANILA – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings veteran point guard Lewis Alfred (LA) Tenorio is now cleared to return to basketball action after he was declared free from cancer.
Gin Kings head coach Earl Timothy “Tim” Cone said the 39-year-old Tenorio had a PET scan (positron emission tomography) recently, which confirmed that he no longer has cancer.
“We just got really good news. His last PET scan he took (on Tuesday). He is in Singapore right now. And he is cancer-free,” Cone said in a press conference at the PBA office on Tuesday afternoon.
“He is finished with all of his chemo sessions and he has been declared cancer-free. And they told him that within days, he can start practicing. In three or four days, he can start practice,” he added.
Cone jokingly said that he considered including the former Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles standout to his 19th Asian Games-bound Gilas Pilipinas but Tenorio was not listed in the provisional roster.
“The only problem is LA is not in the list. We can’t include you in the national team. But I would have put him on the Asian Games team if he is on the list because he knows our system more than anybody,” said Cone.
Tenorio was named by Cone as among his assistant coaches for the Philippine men’s basketball team that will compete in Asiad beginning on September 26 in Hangzhou, China.
Tenorio, an eight-time PBA champion and a former national team member, revealed last March that he had been diagnosed with a stage 3 colon cancer after he initially said that he had groin injury then.
The cancer detection has forced the 5-foot-9 point guard to temporarily halt his stint with the Gin Kings in the PBA as he went back and forth to Singapore as he underwent chemotherapy.
Dubbed as the PBA’s ‘Ironman’ for playing 744 consecutive games since he started his PBA career, Tenorio’s streak was snapped last March 1 when he sat out Ginebra’s match against Meralco Bolts./PN
