Marcio Lassiter

MANILA, Philippines — There is a sense of loss at Powerade, the PBA’s Cinderella team in the last conference, following reports that one of their star players, Marcio Lassiter, may soon leave them for powerhouse Petron Blaze.

The trade has been submitted to the office of PBA Commissioner Chito Salud but no action has been taken since Salud is reportedly out of the country.

Saddened most by the report that Lassiter has been offered for trade is the team’s top gun Gary David. Dejected he may be, David accepted the fact that things like these happen in the PBA.

“I feel sad of course, but we don’t have control on that,” said David whose swashbuckling play and consistent clutch performance earned him the Philippine Cup Best Player of the Conference.

David attended a press conference for PBA Franchise Players at the Gateway Suites of the Araneta Center Wednesday to drum up the opening of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup starting Friday.

“The only thing we have control is to play basketball, and for me, I’ll just continue playing hard,” David added. David, Lassiter and fellow rookie Jvee Casio were the architects who helped Powerade reach the finals of the Philippine Cup but lost 4-1 against defending champion Talk ’N Text in the best-of-seven series.

A few days after the finals, it was reported that US-based officials of Powerade – under The Coca-Cola Company – have agreed to sell the franchise to its previous owners, the San Miguel Corporation (SMC). Powerade representative to the PBA Board JB Baylon denied the reports.

But he did not deny that Lassiter has been offered to SMC in a trade that is both perplexing and surprising. Lassiter, a slasher and a major cog in Powerade’s ascent to the final, is being exchanged for Noy Baclao and Rey Guevara who are, more or less, bench players.

“Let’s just wait for the decision of the Commissioner,” David said sounding hopeful that the trade would be disapproved.

Besides David, also present during the press conference were Barangay Ginebra’s Mark Caguioa, Air21’s Renren Ritualo, Meralco’s Mark Cardona and Alaska’s LA Tenorio. There was no representaive from TNT, Shopinas and Rain or Shine.

The PBA Commissioner’s Cup will start tomorrow at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum, with the 10 squads to be reinforced by imports with unlimited height. The 10 ball clubs will play nine games each in the single round robin elimination.

The top two teams will earn outright semifinal slots, while the third to sixth teams will advance in the bestof- three quarterfinal playoffs. The last four will be automatically eliminated.