Wife claims CJ Perez was invited and then cut from Gilas pool in the same day

As fans continue to ponder on ‘what-might-have-beens’ for Gilas Pilipinas after the country’s national basketball team dropped an 85-81 heartbreaker to Indonesia in the gold-medal match of the 5×5 Men’s basketball in the 31st SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam, one netizen questioned the absence of CJ Perez.

The 28-year old San Miguel guard, after all, has had commendable performances in his few stints with Gilas.

“I really don’t know why CJ Perez isn’t part of the Gilas,” quipped one Gilas fan on Twitter.

“He was part [of the team], minessage na sya actually and then we received a text na cinut ulit sya ni coach,” replied Perez’ wife, Sienna Catacutan-Perez.

“I mean morning minessage kami na part sya, kinagabihan binawi,” she continued and the capped it off with a ‘face with tears of joy’ emoji.

The series of tweets, however, have since been deleted.

Perez saw action for the Gilas 3×3 team that won the gold medal in the 30th SEA Games in Manila. He then joined the Men’s team in the first window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers and then back to 3×3 for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Graz, Austria last year.

Comprising the backcourt for the Hanoi team were Phoenix Super LPG’s Matthew Wright, San-en’s Thirdy Ravena, Shiga’s Kiefer Ravena, and TNT’s Roger Pogoy, Kib Montalbo, and Jaydee Tungcab.

Kevin Alas and Robert Bolick were also invited but both begged off due to personal reasons.