By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
There will be no Carl Tamayo for the Gilas Pilipinas men’s national basketball team.
After getting his name included in the 21-man pool that will be representing the country for the upcoming FIBA World Cup on August 25, the former UAAP champion then begged off last June 12, 2023.
The versatile power forward informed the Gilas coaching staff that he is currently nursing a minor knee injury, a thing that kept on bugging him during his debut season in the Japan B. League.
Gilas head coach Chot Reyes also confirmed the knee injury and added that he will not also join the squad in their Europe trip.
Reyes stated that Tamayo already underwent an MRI to check the status of his knee and although results showed no damage, the big man will still need to receive therapy to reach optimum playing status.
Tamayo is set for platelet-rich plasma therapy to strengthen his knee and will then proceed to a rehabilitation process.
The former University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons superstar became one of the most consistent scorers in the national team during the Tab Baldwin era several years ago.
Under Baldwin’s leadership, Tamayo found his role with Gilas and helped the team finish the previous FIBA windows with an undefeated record.
After playing two seasons with the UP Fighting Maroons, Tamayo went straight to Japan and played for the Ryukyu Golden Kings.
Tamayo immediately made an impact with the B. League team and is coming off a championship title during the 2022-2023 season.
