Juan Gomez de Liaño, Earthfriends Tokyo Z come to 'mutual agreement' to discontinue contract

The Japan Professional Basketball League (B.League) Division 2 team Earthfriends Tokyo Z announced that it has canceled the contract of Filipino import Juan Gomez de Liaño.

In a statement on Tuesday, Earthfriends said the decision was a mutual agreement and the Filipino player will be considered as a free agent starting January 18.

"We had a lot of discussions between the team and the players, and it was like this, but during that time, we were very sorry that we couldn't explain the situation to everyone," the translated statement of Earthfriends read.

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Gomez de Liaño, meanwhile, thanked Earthfriends for the support they have given him in his stint with the team.

"To my teammates as well that made the transition easy for me, I will always value friendship more than anything. I learned so much despite everything that has happened and I'll always be grateful for that," he said.

Gomez de Liaño, in his stint with Earthfriends, averaged 5.3 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 17 games. He last saw action with the team back in December 4, 2021, when they played Kemark Cariño and his Aomori Wat's squad.

The former University of the Philippines standout is one of the two Filipino imports playing in Division 2, along with Cariño. He is also among the nine Filipino players tapped as imports in the league, alongside his brother Javi, brothers Kiefer and Thirdy Ravena, Ray Parks, Kobe Paras, Dwight Ramos, and Matthew Aquino who has been listed as a local.

—Justin Kenneth Carandang/JMB, GMA News