Mar 25, 2023

Kings eyeing to honor Tenorio with title retention bid

TIM Cone and the Barangay Ginebra Kings are looking to repay LA Tenorio for his gesture.

The veteran coach said there's no perfect way to honor their fallen captain than to retain the PBA Governors Cup championship.

Cone appreciates Tenorio's presence at the Ginebra bench in Game 1 of the team's semifinals series against San Miguel Beer, just three days after he personally announced in public that he's been diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer.

The defending champions didn't disappoint Tenorio as they pulled off a 121-112 win over the Beermen to take the headstart in the best-of-five series.

"It can be kind of corny that we're doing this for LA. Of course, we're doing this for LA and it don't need to be said, and I don't think it needs to be repeated," said Cone afterwards.

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"He honors us with his presence. Hopefully, we can honor him by continuing to play hard and playing his image."

Despite his health condition, the 38-year-old Tenorio continues to show up in Ginebra practices, and even volunteered to join Cone's coaching staff for the moment as he's set to undergo chemotherapy by next month.

"It's a great honor that he is here with us and doing things that he wants to do, while he's doing things he needs to do," said Cone.

The champion coach who has handled Tenorio back in their days with Alaska, referred to the veteran playmaker out of Ateneo as a 'valuable leader.'

"I just find it really selfless on his part to be here, and I think the whole team feels that," added Cone. (RG)