MANILA, Philippines – Emotions ran high after Game 2 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals on Sunday, February 4, as Magnolia forward Calvin Abueva figured in a verbal altercation with the wife of San Miguel big man Mo Tautuaa.
Abueva and Aida Tautuaa got involved in a shouting match as they crossed paths at a hallway near the exit of the Mall of Asia Arena after the Beermen coasted to a 109-85 win for a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven affair.
The commotion seemed to have been defused when Abueva appeared to have left the venue, but he returned with his wife Sam to confront the Tautuaas.
Cooler heads prevailed as security personnel and members of both teams stepped in, but not without Abueva challenging Tautuaa to a fistfight.
In a series of posts on X, Aida claimed Abueva smirked and laughed at her direction while she was waiting for her husband, sparking the heated exchange.
“I had to walk past him to go to the restroom. He smirked at me, nodded his head up and down, and said, ‘Yeaaa’ laughing. I said, ‘WTF is wrong with you?’ and kept walking. He walked after me and literally got in my face,” Aida wrote.
Aida further called Abueva “unhinged” and “not mentally stable” on her Instagram posts.
But Abueva refuted the allegations, saying it was Aida who started it all.
“She walked here, I was waiting for my children, and then she said, ‘What the f*ck are you smiling for?’ Who are you to make me smile? Who is she? I’m with my children and she was acting that way,” said Abueva in Filipino.
Abueva struggled in Game 2 with just 3 points on 1-of-7 shooting as the Hotshots lost consecutive games for first time this conference.
“The Beast” got subbed out with 10 minutes left and never returned after an unsportsmanlike foul – incidentally – on Tautuaa.
On his way to the bench, Abueva then incurred a technical foul after a verbal exchange with San Miguel head coach Jorge Gallent.
Game 3 is on Wednesday, February 7, at the Araneta Coliseum. – Rappler.com