LA Tenorio's replacement, Jayson David, made a splash in his first game back in the Ginebra Gin Kings' active lineup.
LA Tenorio asked to be shelved for the meantime.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone bared this just a day after the team relegated the 40-year-old veteran to the unrestricted free agent list on Tuesday, April 29.
Cone explained that Tenorio will focus on his Gilas Pilipinas boys coaching duties next month.
[RELATED STORY: PBA: LA Tenorio now an unrestricted free agent]
The veteran Ginebra playmaker was appointed the head coach of the youth team in November last year.
“He’s going to be busy for at least a month. Because he’s mostly with high school kids — they have school during the day — he’s going to be practicing basically 6 to 9 every evening. They're going to have a camp in Pampanga,” Cone said after the team’s 131-106 disposal of NorthPort Wednesday, April 30.
LA Tenorio (right) puts on his coaching hat for the Gilas Pilipinas boys. | Photo (c) RM Chua/One Sports
The juniors national team is set to see action in the FIBA U16 Asia Cup SEABA qualifiers in Pampanga from May 24 to 30 at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center.
With such a huge responsibility on his shoulders, Tenorio asked to be excused from the games and practices with the Gin Kings.
“He just felt that he could miss practices for our games. He was the one who actually came to me and said ‘You want to put somebody? I’ll come up and be on reserve if you want to activate somebody else, because I’m not going to be able to play this month; I’m not going to be able to attend the games,’” said Cone.
[ALSO READ: Jayson David helps Ginebra bounce back strong, wallop NorthPort in PBA PH Cup]
But this is only temporary.
Cone said sometime after SEABA, the Ginebra will reactivate Tenorio, an eight-time PBA champion who is also serving as playing-assistant coach for Ginebra.
“Eventually, we’re going to reactivate him when his stint is over with SEABA,” Cone said.