PBA Commissioner summons Orton after tirade against referees, Pacquiao

Purefoods import Daniel Orton will have a talk with PBA Commissioner Chito Salud on Friday at 1 pm for comments he made after the Hotshots lost to the KIA Carnival Wednesday night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

Orton had his worst game of his short PBA career against the Carnival led by PJ Ramos.

In three games this conference, Orton has averaged 15 points, 12.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.3 steals, and 3.33 blocks per game and has one win against two losses. He replaced Marqus Blakely after his stint in the CBA ended early February.

Among the current 12 imports, Orton is last in scoring and 10th in rebounding.

Blakely, a much shorter import compared to the NBA veteran, normed 22 points, 14.3 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 2.7 blocks in his three games with Purefoods this conference.

After the loss, Orton had some strong words against the refereeing.

“This game was seriously a joke,” said Orton after frustrating outing with only six points and three rebounds to his name as he shot 1 of 7 from the field in only 17 minutes. The Purefoods import also fouled out as KIA pulled away in the fourth quarter.

“The way the game was going, the refs, they made it into a mockery, seriously. They took the game that I know and love and made it into a mockery,” he added. “This is a physical league they say, but I can’t be physical? That doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t understand it at all.”

Manny Pacquiao, KIA's playing coach who had one point and one assists in the game, did not escape Orton's tirade.

“That’s part of the joke I was talking about. Professional boxer, yeah okay. Congressman, alright. Professional basketball player? No. It’s a joke. Seriously, it’s a joke,” Orton said about Pacquiao.