No one ever accused Renaldo Balkman of being a choke artist, but that's all about to change.
Former NBA player Renaldo Balkman went a little berserk during a game in the Philippines for the Petron Blaze Boosters and ended up choking his teammate, Arwind Santos with just a minute left in the game.
Balkman, who probably eliminated any chances of being called up for a 10-day contract, began pushing officials following a call that he didn't agree with. He began by bumping an official and continued on to pushing his coach and teammates. While on the way to speak to a third official about the call, Santos tried to restrain the out of control Balkman. It was at that point that Balkman pushed Santos. Santos pushed him back and Balkman decided to open his heart...and his hand as he placed the latter around Santos' throat before being restrained.
By the way, Santos is the team leader.
Drafted in the first round by the New York Knicks in 2006, Balkman put up mediocre stats during his time with the Knicks. He was traded to the Denver Nuggets in 2008 and reacquired by the New York Knicks in 2011 as part of the deal that brought Carmelo Anthony to New York. He was waived by the Knicks in 2012.
Balkman was the leading scorer of the PBA Commissioner's Cup scoring 28 points a game and the Boosters' top rebounder at 13 rebounds a game. He was recently praised for his leadership and versatility during the tournament.
Even more awe-inspiring than the choking itself is the guy announcing the game screaming "He's strangling Arwind Santos!"
Balkman went on twitter to apologize for the incident.
"I would like to apologize to the fans, Petron Blaze, my teammates, the PBA and especially @tubidronald71 and @Arwind029," said Balkman.