NorthPort rookie William Navarro hobbled to the bench. –PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines–NorthPort rookie William Navarro is expected to miss the rest of the season after sustaining an ACL injury during last week’s PBA Commissioner’s quarter-final against Barangay Ginebra.
Team manager Bonnie Tan confirmed to the Inquirer on Thursday the diagnosis of the injury that Navarro picked up at the end of the first quarter of the season.e Batang Pier failed 99-93 in Game 2 of the series held Saturday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Navarro left at 3:36 during that period while he successfully forced Ginebra’s Jamie Malonzo to take a spin in a forward play.
His injury cut short the impressive debut of former standout Ateneo, who chose to contract with NorthPort after his request was cleared to play in Korea rejected by Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.
Before joining NorthPort, Navarro made eight appearances for Gilas Pilipinas in the 2023 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and the 2022 AFC Asian Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Navarro was selected in second place by NorthPort in a special round for members of the Gilas team in the 2021 PBA Rookie Draft.
The 25-year-old averaged 14.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.0 steals in eight games with Batang Pier.
His best performance came on November 20 of last year when he scored a career-high 29 points shooting 11/14 with 17 rebounds and 9 assists. NorthPort beat Convergence112-97, breaking the latter team’s seven-match winning streak.
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