MANILA – TNT KaTropa has announced the removal of Thomas “Tab” Baldwin as the team’s assistant coach, two weeks after making comments against the Filipino coaches and the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
TNT team manager Gabby Cui, however, denied that the sacking of the rough-talking mentor has something to do with his controversial comments as he claimed that the removal was decided even before the start of the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup.
“We decided on this transition way before the lockdown,” Cui said in a statement. “The team is adapting well to the system of coach Bong Ravena and team consultant Mark Dickel.”
Cui, who is also the team manager of the Gilas Pilipinas, said that the MVP Group wants Baldwin to focus on being head coach of Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles and program director of Gilas.
“Coach Tab will be focusing on his coaching chores in Ateneo and his role in SBP,” Cui said. “We would like to thank coach Tab and wish him well.”
Baldwin came under fire after he slammed the PBA with its single import conference, the league referees for favoring imports and PBA coaches are ‘tactically immature’ during the Coaches Unfiltered podcast two weeks ago.
Several coaches have expressed offense in reaction to Baldwin’s comments, while the Basketball Coaches Association of the Philippines, headed by Louie Gonzales, has also denounced the statements of the former Olympian mentor.
PBA commissioner Willie Marcial deemed Baldwin’s comments as detrimental to the league as he slapped the Kiwi-American mentor with P75,000 fine and three-game suspension./PN
