Phoenix rewards Abueva, offers 3-year max contract extension

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

 

The Beast is getting paid.

After a successful comeback from a 16-month PBA ban, Calvin “The Beast” Abueva will be rewarded by the Phoenix Super LPG Fuelmasters franchise after leading them to the Philippine Cup semifinals.

Initial reports indicated that Abueva has been offered a three-year maximum contract extension worth 15 million.

The resurgent Abueva was a key player for the Fuelmasters after a stellar PBA bubble run.

Together with Matthew Wright and a very solid Jason Perkins, the trio went toe-to-toe against the TNT Tropang Giga and nearly eliminated them in the semifinals.

They even enjoyed a 2-1 series lead before losing to the deeper and bigger Tropang Giga squad.

Despite a long lay-off, it did not take that much for Abueva to make his presence felt after finishing second in the players’ statistical race with 37.1 behind Ray Parks Jr.’s 38.2.

PBA commissioner Willie Marcial even expressed how happy he was for Abueva’s on-court behavior during games.

The amiable executive added that seeing a much-behaved Abueva play without his patent antics only made him a more dangerous player for Phoenix.