RJ Abarrientos receives death threats after miss in close Ginebra loss

MANILA, Philippines – Barangay Ginebra rookie RJ Abarrientos lamented receiving death threats after missing a crucial shot in a 108-104 loss to Meralco in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals on Friday, February 7.

Abarrientos failed to hit the mark on a game-tying four-pointer with a couple of seconds remaining as the Gin Kings fell short of a sweep of the best-of-three series and instead got dragged by the Bolts to a do-or-die game.

Moments after the defeat, Abarrientos’ Instagram page got swamped with death threats from a dummy account that claimed to have lost P400,000 in gambling.

The dummy account also threatened to have Abarrientos’ fiancee assassinated.

“We’re playing well and this is our job. Losing is a part of basketball. To my fellow players, we should not tolerate this,” wrote Abarrientos in Filipino.

“This behavior is alarming.”

Abarrientos finished with 12 points on 5-of-15 shooting, including 1-of-6 from three-point range and 0-of-1 from four-point land. He added 3 assists and 2 steals.

A semifinalist in the past five conferences, Ginebra looks to extend its streak of final four appearances by winning Game 3 at the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Sunday, February 9. – Rappler.com