Cliff Hodge locked horns with Ginebra head coach Tim Cone at the height of Meralco's rally in the third period of the Bolts' 93-82 win over the Gin Kings in the 2018 PBA Commissioner's Cup on Friday.
The incident happened when Cone entered the court, contesting what he thought should be a goal tending violation at the 6:43 mark of the penultimate period where the Bolts staged a telling run that proved to be the game changer.
The Meralco forward felt the winningest mentor in the league wasn't supposed to be inside the court and told the latter to get off of it, and the verbal spat ensued.
Good thing cooler heads prevailed. But things went downhill from there for the Kings as the Bolts put them in a 17-point hole they struggled to climb back from.
"Well, he got on the court and I just told him to get off the court. That's pretty much it," he said at the end of the match at the Mall of Asia Arena.
"I was like, 'Hey he's not supposed to be on the court,' so I told him to get off the court. Then he got mad because I told him that."
Meralco head coach Norman Black didn't like what Hodge did.
"I don't want Cliff to be involved in that to be honest with you," he said during the post-game interview.
"Obviously Tim is one of the best coaches in the Philippines. I think all players should give the coaches that respect that if the coach is not talking to the player, then the player should not be talking to the coach."
Also a multi-titled tactician, Black said he would be furious as well if he was in Cone's shoes. He added coaches, especially those of Ginebra mentor's caliber, doesn't deserve such treatment from players from the opposing teams.
"I've had my instances in the past, I couldn't accept players talking to me. I'll talk to Cliff. I want us to show respect to Tim and his team as much as possible, because I really don't like the fact that it happened," he said.
"But at the same time, it's a rivalry already. They have been on the winning end most of the time, but it's a rivalry and every time we see them we want to win, and we played well tonight to get the win."
Hodge, though, insisted it was nothing personal and pretty much part of the game.
"It's part of the game. I know he was kind of frustrated so I was just trying to get under his skin also," said the Meralco defensive lynchpin.
"Honestly it's just part of the game. I think he's probably thinking the same thing. No one takes it personally after the game is over."