Why LA Tenorio was relegated to Barangay Ginebra's unrestricted free agent list

Last April 29, Barangay Ginebra veteran LA Tenorio was relegated to the team's unrestricted free agent list while Jayson David was activated to take his spot.

Apparently, it was Tenorio who reached out to head coach Tim Cone about the setup as the veteran player is set to put on his Gilas Youth head coach hat.

"He's going to be busy for at least a month. He's practicing with mostly the high school kids. They have school during the day. He's going to be practicing basically 6 to 9 every evening. They're going to have a work trip in a camp in Pampanga. He just felt that he couldn't miss practices for our games," Cone said last Wednesday.

"He was actually the one that came to me and said, do you want to put somebody on? I'll come up and be on reserve if you want to activate somebody else. I won't be able to play this month. He won't be able to attend the games."

The FIBA Asia U16 Cup SEABA qualifiers will happen later this month in Pampanga.

Cone said the team will come up with a plan when Tenorio comes back after his Gilas Youth stint.

"I think the whole team will be welcome to it because of what LA means to everybody. He's everybody's kuya. He's the leader of our group," Cone said.

"I don't think there's going to be any resentment if he comes back, obviously. That's the intention. We'll see what happens when that comes around."

—JMB, GMA Integrated News