By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
So the rumors were true.
The winningest head coach in the history of the PBA and the current mentor of the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, Tim Cone, will fly to the United States at the end of the month to become the Miami Heat’s assistant coach in the upcoming 2022 NBA Summer League.
According to coach Cone, he was invited by the Miami Heat’s head coach, the Filipino-American Erik Spoelstra, to serve as assistant to Miami’s Summer League head coach Malik Allen.
The veteran tactician added that Spoelstra’s plan of bringing him in to coach in the Summer League was supposed to happen several years ago but things were put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.
“I was actually supposed to do this two years ago, 2020. But the Summer League was canceled because of the pandemic,” Cone said.
Cone will become the second PBA tactician to take his talents to the Summer League after former Gilas Pilipinas team captain Jimmy Alapag debuted with the Sacramento Kings last 2019.
Alapag impressed during his stint with Sacramento and was a vital piece to their championship run when they took down the talented Boston Celtics led by Payton Pritchard in the grand finals.
“It’s no secret that I’m a good friend of Erik Spoelstra. It actually started with Jimmy Alapag. Jimmy was of course the guest coach of the Sacramento Kings. After the Summer League, he became an assistant to their G League team,” Cone added.
However, Cone’s departure will cause him to miss four crucial games in the PBA and will pass his head coaching duties to assistant Richard del Rosario.
Ginebra is currently on a roll with a 2-1 win-loss record and is sitting at the no. 2 spot in the ongoing Philippine Cup behind the undefeated San Miguel Beermen.
The Gin Kings are having one of their best starts as a franchise and were fresh off a 19-point comeback game against coach Yeng Guiao and the NLEX Road Warriors.
