Weird But True

The Philippine Basketball Association Banned Renaldo Balkman For Life Because He Choked A Teammate And Did Other Violent Stuff

Remember when former Knicks first-round pick/Carmelo Anthony trade salary-cap fodder Renaldo Balkman choked his teammate (and shoved some refs and coaches and other stragne, unacceptable things) last week? Well, even though he was scoring almost 30 points per game, the Philippine Basketball Association apparently has integrity and won’t let him off the hook.

The PBA fined Balkman about 6,000 USD and banned him for life. A severe punishment, surely, but justified according to the video.

Here’s the PBA’s official statement.

For initiating threatening physical contact with a referee followed by a prolonged, offensive, belligerent if not aberrant on-court decorum directed toward game officials and his Petron team mates and superiors, including the head coach and assistant coaches, amounting to a blatant and utter disrespect for the game, his own ballclub, the League, the fans and his host country, import player Renaldo Balkman is hereby meted the following penalties: Ban from playing in the Philippine Basketball Association; and, A fine of Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pesos (PhP250,000.00).

It’s tough to argue with any of that. Balkman did apologize on Twitter (where he’s still hanging onto his Knicks playing days in his bio).

I accept all responsibilities for my actions while playing an intense game, I have truly enjoyed my time here playing in the Philippines

— Renaldo Balkman (@R_Balkman32) March 11, 2013

He also thanked the fans and says this is a lesson learned. Hopefully, it is. Though he also called the choke “unintentional.” If another team signs him in the near future, it would probably need to (actually) be unintentional.

[SB Nation]