Imports are vital to the PBA. They diversify the league with how different their attributes are, particularly the size, athleticism, and overall offensive repertoire, which also helps bring the best out of the locals.

However, while the said attributes are almost automatic, productivity isn’t. For every Justin Brownlee, Tony Harris, Sean Chambers, and Bobby Parks, there are countless imports who just fade out after one conference, other times after just a couple of games.

Former Dallas Maverick and New York Knick Ricky Ledo, who suited up for Blackwater Bossing at the start of the 2024 Governor’s Cup, is on the rough end of that spectrum. Being mixed with a lowly supporting cast is tough, but performing as bad as he did is a different level of awfulness.

Ledo and the Bossing made their debut last August 20th against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. They were handily defeated 110-97, and it was all but over midway in the third quarter.

While eyed to showcase his abilities and score in bunches, all Ledo did was throw bricks. He shot a pitiful 4-of-23 from the field for 12 points, which was so bad that his eight rebounds, four assist, one steal, and one block went from respectable to irrelevant.

Since it was their first outing, and anyone can be rusty after a long break, especially with Ledo, who’s last action was seven months ago, the off-night would’ve been relatively fine. Sadly, he was worse the second time around.

On August 22nd, Blackwater fell to the NLEX Road Warriors, 104-87, to drop into a 0-2 start. They were playing catch-up all game long yet again, as the locals had virtually played All-Filipino, thanks to Ledo posting six measly points on yet another ugly day shooting the ball: 2-of-15 FGs.

After back-to-back woeful performances, both of which also featured terrible body language, Ledo compiled 9.0 points on a horrific 21.4% shooting with a plus-minus of -19 and -24 in those outings. It was clear that he had to go, which the team recognized. 

Ledo is being replaced by George King, a former standout at Colorado University and appeared in five NBA games across two separate stints.

Nevertheless, unless Ledo comes back, he may go down as one of the worst PBA imports we’ve seen in a long while. It went far beyond the numbers as the 31-year-old played like he was just having fun at the park on a lazy afternoon with the way he chucked shots. A pattern is also emerging as he had a similar exit this past January with AEK Athens, where he was let go just 12 days after signing with the team due to “poor physical performance.”

So, why did a former NBA-caliber player underperform?

The talent for the PBA is obviously there. Note that Ledo was a unique case of one-and-done heading into the 2013 NBA Draft. He never saw action for Providence College due to ineligibility issues but was still selected by the Mavericks in the second round.

However, being an NBA-level talent doesn’t always equate to PBA glory. The work has to be there, regardless of how physically superior you are. For Ledo, though, it’s either he couldn’t find the hunger to perform, or he thought he could automatically be ‘the man’ with minimal effort.