Former NBA Player Learns You Can’t Trash Talk Manny Pacquiao
Insulting Manny Pacquiao in the Philippines is an act of blasphemy. Ex-NBA veteran Daniel Orton found out the hard way and is jobless because of it.
Orton, who plays in the Philippines Basketball Association, put down Pacquiao's basketball skills last week, when his Purefoods Hotshots played Kia Carnival, the team Pacquiao owns and plays for. Orton said, "Professional boxer, yeah, OK...professional basketball player, no. It’s a joke.” The team, and PBA, were infuriated and he was released days later.
“Everyone is angry at him… it is like he went to the United States and insulted the name of Martin Luther King,” a Purefoods team administrator told the AFP.
PBA commissioner also told the website in a statement: “This office disapproves of and frowns upon the cavalier manner in which Mr. Orton issued his comments and the unwarranted antics and liberties he has taken with the league and a fellow player."
Purefoods released Orton and he was ordered to pay $5,650 as a fine and told not to never come back to the Philippines again.
Pacquiao is taking leave from his team to focus on training for his upcoming mega bout against Floyd Mayweather Jr.
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(Photo: Rodrigo Varela/Getty Images)
