By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Mac Tallo is on his way out of the PBA, again.
Last February 7, 2024, the Converge FiberXers, Tallo’s mother franchise, announced his contract termination after a series of thorough investigations confirmed his several “ligang labas” stints.
The FiberXers said that during the team’s ongoing off-season, the combo scoring guard played in several unsanctioned games without any approval from the Converge management and the PBA.
Prior to Converge’s final verdict, the PBA headed by commissioner Willie Marcial slapped Tallo with a 100,000 pesos fine due to violation of the league’s house rules.
Tallo was in hot water after clips of him playing in the recently concluded 2024 Sinulog Cup basketball tournament went viral on Facebook.
According to several reports released in Cebu, Tallo even clinched the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award when his team Z’Nars Jewelers-Marawi City won the championship title.
Tallo dropped 21 points, seven assists, and four rebounds during their title-clinching win against the OCCI Sheermasters.
After becoming a starter for the FiberXers in the first few games when the PBA Commissioner’s Cup kicked off, Tallo was relegated to the bench in the last phase of the eliminations due to an unknown reason.
In his five games played in the import-laced conference, Tallo averaged 7.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.0 assists.
Tallo has yet to air his side regarding his contract termination and is now officially out of the PBA unless a team decides to sign him when free agency begins.
