By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Everyone in the PBA was shocked after Kelly Williams announced his retirement through his social media accounts.
Not only the players and league personnel were surprised by his announcement, but also his current team, the TnT Katropa.
Days after Williams’ confirmation, it was reported that the high-flying PBA star left their team’s practice bubble in Calamba, Laguna.
TnT team manager Gabby Cui elaborated that they were surprised at Williams’ sudden disappearance from their practice facility.
With Williams still having a running contract with the team that will end in December, Cui and the management listed him as Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL).
Cui then confirmed that Williams was finally able to communicate with them and said that they will handle the matter internally as a team.
“We are all there in the bubble. We are always open to talk to him personally. But what he did was just left the bubble without talking to management or coaches. Sana nag-usap na lang sa bubble,” Cui bared.
During Williams’ guest appearance in the podcast The Ultimate Fan Hub, the former PBA champion explained that neither his age, health, nor the COVID-19 pandemic had anything to do with his surprising decision.
“But sometimes, some things are out of your control, and there’s a lot of things and intricacies within the business that sometimes you just got to deal with the best way you can,” he said.
