TNT import Chris McCullough did not mince words in airing his frustrations on the way Game 7 of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup finals were officiated as the Tropang 5G relinquished the crown to Barangay Ginebra on Wednesday night.
There was no holding back for McCullough following TNT’s 76-88 defeat in the best-of-seven series decider witnessed by a record crowd inside the Mall of Asia Arena.
“The f*****g referees. The referees made a lot of bad calls. Simple as that,” he said as he finished his return to the league with runner-up trophy seven years since his last stint with San Miguel Beer resulted in a championship in the same conference back in 2019.
McCullough, who came in as a replacement after 7-foot-3 Bol Bol suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in Game 2 of the semifinals against Meralco, turned into a liability on the defensive end after getting into foul trouble early.
In fact, TNT head coach Chot Reyes was forced to sit McCullough down with six minutes left in the third quarter after drawing his fourth foul.
With McCullough held back, the Kings made a decisive run that erased their seven-point deficit and turned it into a five-point advantage heading to the payoff period.
McCullough was pushed to the brink of disqualification after committing his fifth foul on Japeth Aguilar in the first 56 seconds of the fourth quarter. Aguilar would then knock down the two foul shots to complete Ginebra’s 14-0 swing to turn the game around.
The 6-foot-9 reinforcement felt the Kings didn’t do much and had them cornered if not for calls that didn’t go TNT’s way.
“They didn’t do anything. The referees made a lot of bad calls, man. I’m standing on what I said,” he said.
McCullough scored 28 points and grabbed 22 rebounds. He, however, went 9-of-14 from the free throw line, including five sorry misses midway through the fourth quarter that could’ve brought the Tropang 5G back in front.
Down, 67-75, McCullough went on a personal 7-2 run that closed TNT’s gap to three. The Tropang 5G could’ve taken a two-point lead if not for his consecutive empty trips to the line, followed by a split.
Officials whistled both squads with 20 fouls each. Ginebra was given 21 free throw attempts, hitting 14 while TNT went 15-of-20 from the stripes.
After a grueling postseason stint, McCullough is looking forward to a good rest.
“Go home, relax a little bit, then go figure it out. I’m not sure yet. But I got a lot of teams calling. I’m happy I came here to showcase my talent. That’s it,” he said.
And a PBA return will be a welcome opportunity for him.
“One hundred percent, I want to be back. I’m not sure what team, but 100 percent. I’ll be back. Whatever team calls me, I’m just happy to play basketball,” he said.
